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DUKE  UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


The  Glenn  Negley  Collection 
of  Utopian  Literature 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2010  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/demetrianOOhard 


THE    DEMETRIAN 


THE 

DEMETRIAN 


By 
ELLISON    HARDING 


B  R  E  N  T  A  NO'S 
NEW   YORK  MCMVII 


Copyright,   igoy,  by   Brentanoi 

Entered  at  Stationers'   Hall 


THE   TROW   PRESS,    NEW   YORK 


UT6P/A 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  A  Goddess  and  a  Comic  Song    ,     .     ,     .  y 

II.  Harvesting  and  Harmony 2i 

III.  The  Cult  of  Demeter 37 

IV.  Anna  of  Ann 53 

V.  Irene 63 

VI.  Neaera 77 

VII.  A  Tragic  Denouement 94 

VIII.  How  the  Cult  was  Founded      ....  loi 

IX.  How  It  Might  be  Undermined      .     .     .  119 

X.  An  Unexpected  Solution 127 

XI.  The  Plot  Thickens 135 

XII.  Neaera's  Idea  of  Diplomacy      .     .     .     .  144 

XIII.  Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements    .      .  150 

XIV.  "I  Consented" 162 

XV.  The  High  Priest  of  Demeter   .     .     .     .  171 

XVI.  Anna's  Secret 183 

XVII.  Designs  on  Anna  of  Ann  ......  190 

5 


Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII.     A  Dream o     .  200 

XJX.     The  Legislature  Meets 207 

XX.     On  Flavors  and  Finance 219 

XXI.  The  Investigating  Committee    .      .      .  226 

XXII,  "Treasons,  Stratagems,  and  Spoils"  .  238 

XXIII.  A  Libel 249 

XXIV.  Neaera  Again 259 

XXV.     The  Libel  Investigated 266 

XXVI.     The  Election 285 

XXVII.     The  Joint  Session 293 

XXVIII.     Lydia  to  the  Rescue 302 

Conclusion    ...o 315 


THE    DEMETRIAN 

CHAPTER   I 

A  GODDESS  AND  A  COMIC  SONG 

I  REMEMBER  awakening  with  a  start,  con- 
scious of  a  face  bending  over  me  that  was 
beautiful  and  strange. 

I  was  quite  unable  to  account  for  myself,  and 
my  surprise  was  heightened  by  the  singular  dress 
of  the  woman  I  saw.  It  was  Greek — not  of  mod- 
ern but  of  ancient  Greece. 

What  had  happened?  Had  I  been  acting  in 
a  Greek  play  and  been  stunned  by  an  accident  to 
the  scenery?  No;  the  grass  upon  which  I  was 
lying  was  damp,  and  a  sharp  twinge  between  the 
shoulders  told  me  I  had  been  there  already  too 
long.  What,  then,  was  the  meaning  of  this  classic 
dress? 

I  raised  myself  on  one  arm;  and  the  young 
woman  who  had  been  kneeling  beside  me  arose 
also.  I  was  dazed,  and  shaded  my  eyes  from  the 
sun  on  the  horizon — whether  setting  or  rising  I 
could  not  tell.    I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  the  feet  of 

7 


The  Demetrian 

my  companion;  they  were  curiously  shod  in  soft 
leather,  for  cleanliness  rather  than  for  protection; 
tightly  laced  from  the  toe  to  the  ankle  and  half 
way  up  the  leg — half-moccasin  and  half-coth- 
urnus. I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  them  and  slowly 
became  quite  sure  that  I  was  alive  and  awake, 
but  seemed  still  dazed  and  unwilling  to  look  up. 
Presently  she  spoke. 

"Are  you  ill?"  she  asked. 

*'  I  don't  think  so,"  answered  I,  as  I  lifted  my 
eyes  to  hers. 

When  our  eyes  met  I  jumped  to  my  feet  with 
an  alertness  so  fresh  and  fruitful  that  I  seemed  to 
myself  to  have  risen  anew  from  the  Fountain  of 
Youth.  A  miracle  had  happened.  I  was  dead 
and  had  come  to  life  again — and  apparently  this 
time  in  the  Olympian  world. 

"Here!"  I  exclaimed;  "or  Athene!  Cythe- 
rea,  or  Artemis!  " 

Then  quickly  the  look  of  sympathetic  concern 
that  I  had  just  seen  in  her  eyes  vanished.  A  rip- 
ple of  laughter  passed  over  her  face  like  the  first 
touch  of  a  breeze  on  a  becalmed  sea;  for  a  moment 
she  seemed  to  restrain  it,  but  her  merriment  awak- 
ened mine,  and  on  perceiving  it  she  abandoned 
all  restraint  and  burst  Into  a  laugh  tha^  was  mus- 
ical, bewitching,  and  contagious.    We  stood  there 

8 


A  Goddess  and  a  Comic   Song 

a  full  minute,  both  of  us  laughing,  though  I  did 
not  understand  why.     She  soon  explained. 

"  Where  on  earth  do  you  come  from,  Xenos, 
and  where — where  did  you  get  those  things?" 
She  pointed  to  my  pantaloons  as  she  spoke. 

Then  I  discovered  how  ridiculous  I  appeared. 

"  And  why  have  they  cut  all  the  hair  off  your 
face  and  left  that  ugly  little  stubble?" 

I  put  my  hand  to  my  chin  and  felt  there  a 
beard  of  several  days'  growth. 

"  It  must  prick  dreadfully,"  she  said ;  and  com- 
ing up  to  me  she  daintily  passed  a  soft,  rosy  finger 
over  my  cheek.  I  caught  her  hand  and  kissed  it. 
She  jumped  away  from  me  like  a  fawn. 

"  Take  care,  young  man,"  she  said,  reprov- 
ingly but  not  reproachfully;  "  though  I  don't  sup- 
pose you  are  very  young,  for  I  see  some  gray  in 
your  hair." 

I  don't  suppose  I  liked  being  reminded  of  my 
years,  but  I  was  altogether  too  much  absorbed  in 
the  richness  of  her  beauty  and  health  to  be  con- 
cerned about  myself.  And  the  subtle  combination 
of  freedom  and  reserve  in  her  manner  conveyed 
to  me  an  indescribable  charm.  At  one  moment  it 
tempted  me  to  trespass,  but  at  the  next  I  became 
aware  that  such  an  attempt  would  meet  with 
humiliating  resistance;  for  she  was  tall  and  strong. 

9 


The  Demetrian 

Her  one  rapid  movement  away  from  me  proved 
her  agility.  She  was  perfectly  able  to  take  care 
of  herself.  Her  consciousness  of  this  had  enabled 
her  to  meet  my  first  advance  with  unruffled  good 
humor,  but  I  felt  sure  that  persistence  on  my  part 
would  elicit  repulsion  and  perhaps  scorn. 

We  stood  a  moment  smiling  at  each  other; 
then  she  said: 

"  Come,  you  must  take  ofif  those  dreadful 
things;  why,  you  are  wet  through" — and  she 
passed  her  hand  over  my  back — "  and  you  must 
tell  me  what  you  are  and  where  you  come  from. 
But  you  are  chilled  now  and  need  something 
warm,  so  come  to  the  Hall  and  you  can  tell  me  as 
we  go." 

As  she  spoke  she  swung  to  her  head  a  basket 
I  had  not  before  observed;  it  was  heavy,  for  she 
straightened  herself  to  support  it;  and  the  weight, 
until  she  balanced  it,  brought  out  the  muscles  of 
her  neck.  She  put  her  arms  akimbo  and  showed 
the  way. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  as  we  walked  together  side 
by  side,  "  when  are  you  going  to  begin?  " 

"  How  and  where  shall  I  begin?  "  answered  I. 
"You  forget  that  I  too  have  questions  to  ask;  I 
am  bewildered.  Who  and  what  are  you?  In 
what  country  am   I?     Where  did  you  get  that 

lO 


A  Goddess  and  a  Comic   Song 

beautiful  dress?"  I  stepped  a  little  away  from 
her  to  observe  the  beauty  of  her  form. 

"  We  try  to  make  all  our  garments  beautiful," 
she  answered,  simply;  "but  this  is  the  common 
dress  of  all — or  rather  the  dress  commonly  worn 
in  the  country.  We  dress  a  little  differently  in 
town — but  what  do  you  find  peculiar  in  my  attire? 
What  else  could  I  wear  out  in  the  fields?" 

I  looked  at  the  drapery,  which  did  not  hang 
lower  than  the  knee;  at  the  girdle  that  barely  in- 
dicated the  waist;  at  the  chiton  gathered  by  a 
brooch  on  one  shoulder,  leaving  bare  the  whole 
length  of  her  richly  moulded  arm. 

"  I  would  not  have  you  wear  anything  else," 
said  I,  restraining  my  admiration;  "but  our 
women  dress  differently." 

"  Tell  me  about  them,"  said  she. 

"  I  will,"  answered  I,  "  but  tell  me  first  where 
I  am  and  where  we  are  going?  " 

"  You  are  near  a  place  called  Tyringham," 
answered  she,  "  and  you  are  going  with  me  to 
breakfast  at  the  Hall." 

As  she  spoke  we  were  walking  down  a  grassy 
slope  and  came  in  sight  of  a  meadow  on  the  left, 
through  which  meandered  a  crystal  stream;  it 
flowed  from  the  right  of  the  hill  on  which  we 
stood,  and  just  below  where  it  fell  in  cascades  over 


The  Demetrian 

successive  ledges  it  was  straddled  by  a  mill  smoth- 
ered in  jasmine  and  purple  clematis.  The  mo- 
ment the  mill  came  in  sight  my  companion  uttered 
a  loud  call  that  came  echoing  back  to  us  from  the 
surrounding  hills.  Her  call  was  answered  by  sev- 
eral voices,  and  soon  there  came  to  meet  us  a  youth 
as  handsome  in  his  way  as  my  own  companion. 
He,  too,  wore  the  Greek  dress;  he  was  about  eight- 
een years  of  age  and  so  like  the  girl  that  I  guessed 
at  once  he  was  her  brother.  He  put  me  out  of 
countenance  by  staring  at  me  with  open-mouthed 
wonder  and  then  bursting  into  an  uncontrolled 
roar  of  laughter.  But  his  sister  took  him  by  the 
arm  and  shook  him. 

''  Stop  laughing,"  she  said.  "  Don't  you  see  he 
doesn't  like  it?  " 

The  boy  stopped  immediately — for  I  confess 
his  laughter  was  not  as  agreeable  to  me  as  hers — 
and  there  came  upon  him  an  expression  of  the  gen- 
tlest solicitude. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  he  said,  with  tears  of  laughter 
still  in  his  eyes;  "  I  thought  you  were  playing  a 
joke  on  us." 

I  tried  to  look  pleasant. 

"  I  cannot  at  all  account  for  myself,"  I  said, 
"  or  for  you;  I  suppose  a  long  time  has  elapsed 
since  I  went  to  sleep ;  so  long  that  I  hardly  remem- 

12 


A  Goddess  and  a  Comic  Song 

ber  where  it  was,  though  I  think  it  was  in  Boston 
— in  my  bachelor  quarters  there." 

They  both  looked  puzzled  and  concerned. 

^'  And  what  is  your  name?  "  asked  the  girl. 

"  Henry  T.  Joyce,"  answered  I. 

I  could  see  that  my  very  name  amused  them 
though  they  tried  to  conceal  it. 

"  And  yours?  "  asked  I  of  the  girl. 

"  Lydia — Lydia  second,  or  more  correctly, 
Lydia  of  Lydia." 

"  That  means,"  said  the  boy,  "  that  her  moth- 
er's name  was  Lydia;  and  so  I  call  myself  Cleon 
of  Lydia,  because,  my  mother's  name  was  Lydia. 
She,"  he  added,  pointing  to  the  girl,  "  is  my 
sister." 

He  was  dressed,  like  her,  in  a  simple  tunic 
coming  to  the  knees,  and  was  shod  like  her  also; 
but  the  tunic  was  not  pinned  up  on  one  shoulder: 
it  had  sleeves  like  our  jacket. 

We  were  walking  down  the  hill  and  came  now 
in  sight  of  a  group  of  buildings  entirely  of  wood, 
of  a  beauty  that  made  them  a  delight  to  behold. 
One  much  larger  than  the  others  reminded  me  of 
what  Westminster  Hall  would  be  if  separated 
from  the  more  recent  Houses  of  Parliament.  It 
was  lighted  by  large  Gothic  windows  that  started 
from    above    a    covered    veranda;    the    veranda 

13 


The  Demetrian 

offered  countless  opportunities  for  surprises  in  the 
way  of  carved  pillars,  twisting  staircases,  and  sub- 
sidiary balconies,  every  corner  being  smothered  in 
vines  and  bursting  into  blossoms  of  varied  hue. 
Clearly  the  upper  part  of  the  building  was  a  large 
hall,  and  the  lower  part  split  up  into  smaller 
rooms.  Near  this  Hall  and  connected  with  it  by 
covered  ways  were  numerous  other  buildings,  all 
different,  but  conforming  to  the  lay  of  the  land 
on  either  side  of  a  torrent,  upon  one  level  reach  of 
which  stood  the  mill  in  the  same  quaint  style. 

"  Our  power  house,"  said  Cleon,  pointing  to  it. 

I  thought  of  the  hideous  masonry  that  ruined 
the  valley  of  the  Inn  between  San  Moritz  and 
Celerina  in  the  old  days,  and  I  wondered.  But  my 
eyes  were  too  much  bent  on  the  beautiful  lines  of 
Lydia's  form  to  linger  long  on  the  mill  or  its  adja- 
cent buildings.  I  had  fallen  behind  her  in  order 
to  be  able  to  take  better  account  of  her.  The 
v/eight  of  the  basket  on  her  head  brought  out  the 
strength  of  her  shoulders  and  the  rhythmic  move- 
ment of  her  body.  Every  time  she  turned  to  speak 
to  us  her  hands  left  the  waist  in  an  unconscious 
effort  to  maintain  her  balance,  thus  throwing  into 
relief  the  rounded  outline  of  her  arm  and  the  deli- 
cacy of  her  wrist.  "  Alma  venus  genitrix,"  thought 
I,  ''  hominum  divumque  voluptas." 

H 


A  Goddess  and  a  Comic  Song 

Cleon  kept  talking  all  the  way,  interrupted  oc- 
casionally by  Lydia.  He  explained  all  the  build- 
ings to  me  and  their  respective  uses.  As  we  ap- 
proached the  Hall  we  met  several  other  young 
men  and  women  who  joined  us,  for  all  were  going 
in  the  same  direction.  Each  expressed  the  same 
surprise  and  amusement  on  beholding  me;  they 
joined  Lydia,  who  with  an  air  of  importance 
repeated  her  story  to  every  one.  I  felt  more 
comfortable  between  Lydia  and  Cleon  and  had 
therefore  joined  the  brother  and  sister,  so  as  to 
have  the  protection  of  one  of  them  on  either 
side. 

When  we  reached  the  Hall,  Cleon  suggested 
that  I  must  feel  uncomfortable  in  my  damp  clothes 
and  took  me  to  the  men's  quarters.  He  provided 
me  with  all  that  was  necessary  for  a  complete 
toilet.  A  large  swimming  tank  occupied  the  base- 
ment of  the  building,  and  into  it  I  was  glad  to 
plunge.  After  I  had  shaved — for  a  razor  was  pro- 
vided— I  assumed  the  simple  garment  of  my 
neighbors  and  for  the  first  time  felt  ashamed  of 
the  whiteness  of  my  skin.  By  the  side  of  the 
swarthy  limbs  about  me  my  arms  and  legs  looked 
naked  and  pitiful.  I  was  extremely  hungry,  how- 
ever, and  my  appetite  overcame  my  reluctance  at 
facing  the  crowd  that  I  felt  was  awaiting  me  at 

15 


The  Demetrian 

the  Hall.  As  we  approached  it  we  heard  echoes 
of  song  and  laughter. 

"  They  have  finished  breakfast,"  said  Cleon, 
pushing  me  through  the  open  doorway. 

Our  entrance  was  unobserved,  for  they  were  all 
engaged  in  singing;  the  words  I  heard  in  chorus 
were  "The  Lightning  Calculator!"  They  all 
stamped  at  each  alternate  syllable  and  I  noticed 
that  Lydia  was  the  centre  of  observation.  She  was 
flushed,  half  with  vexation  and  half  with  merri- 
ment, and  was  being  held  by  a  crowd  of  girls  who 
prevented  her  from  interfering  with  the  soloist, 
who,  standing  on  a  chair  with  a  guitar,  was  impro- 
vising. 

I  could  not  hear  the  words  distinctly  from 
where  I  stood  but  caught  something  about  a  cer- 
tain Chairo,  at  the  mention  of  whose  name  there 
was  a  laugh,  and  the  stanza  closed,  as  had  the  last, 
with  "  The  Lightning  Calculator,"  whereupon  all 
laughed  again  and  stamped  as  they  repeated  in 
chorus  "  The  Light-ning  Cal-cu-la-tor." 

"  That's  my  sister,"  said  Cleon  to  me  in  a  whis- 
per.   "  She's  the  Lightning  Calculator." 

In  the  next  stanza,  which  was  quite  unintelli- 
gible to  me,  I  noticed  an  allusion  to  Demeter,  at 
which  the  women  looked  shocked  and  the  men 
delighted.    I  was  wondering  at  the  significance  of 

i6 


A  Goddess  and  a  Comic  Sono: 

this  when  Lydia  discovered  me,  and,  delighted  to 
divert  attention  from  herself  by  directing  it  toward 
me,  she  said  to  the  tormentors  who  were  holding 
her:  "There  he  is!" — and  she  nodded  in  my 
direction. 

Immediately  all  eyes  were  turned  toward  me 
and  I  became  painfully  conscious  of  my  bare  white 
legs.  The  young  man  with  the  guitar  stepped 
down  from 'his  chair  and  came  .to  me. 

"  Welcome  to  Tyringham,"  said  he.  "  We 
don't  know  how  you  got  here  or  where  you  come 
from,  but  we  are  ready  to  answer  questions  and 
willing  to  ask  none." 

I  stammered  something  in  answer  and  was  led 
to  a  table  where  two  places  had  been  left  for  us. 
Cleon  and  I  sat  down  and  food  was  brought. 
Lydia  asked  me  a  few  conventional  questions  to 
put  me  at  my  ease ;  but  hardly  succeeded,  for  seem- 
ingly some  hundreds  were  engaged  in  staring  at 
me.  At  last  some  one  pushed  the  soloist  by  the 
arm.  "  One  more  verse,  Ariston,"  said  he,  and 
Ariston  jumped  on  the  chair  again,  and,  twanging 
his  guitar,  resumed : 

"  Of  swarthy  skins  she  tires  soon 
To  her  new  things  must  cater, 
So  now  she's  found  a  pantaloon — 
The  Lightning  Calculator." 

17 


The  Demetrian 

My  legs  were  well  under  the  table  so  I  could 
join  in  the  laugh,  secretly  satisfied  to  be  associated 
with  her  even  in  the  jingling  nonsense  of  a  comic 
song. 

"  Boobies!  "  exclaimed  Lydia,  "  and  Babies!  " 
she  added.  "Boobies  and  Babies!"  She  ran  to 
the  door  and  they  all  followed  her,  boisterously 
laughing,  and  leaving  me  alone  with  Cleon. 

"  I  didn't  understand  much  of  it,"  said  I. 
"Who  is  Chairo?" 

"  Chairo  is  a  great  man;  one  of  our  great  men; 
the  youngest  of  them;  he  may  become  anything; 
but  he  is  not  popular  because  he  is  so  dictatorial." 

"  And  he  is  in  love  with  Lydia?  " 

"  Frightfully  in  love." 

"  And  Lydia?  " 

"Ah!  no  one  knows;  she's  very  sly,  Lydia"; 
and  Cleon  chuckled  to  himself. 

"  And  why  did  everybody  look  at  one  another 
when  Ariston  sang  about  Demeter?  " 

"  Well,  the  women  don't  like  to  have  it  talked 
about." 

I  was  puzzled. 

"  Do  tell  me  about  it,"  I  said,  "  for  I  know 
nothing  about  Demeter  except  what  I  have  read 
in  my  classics." 

"  Well,  Demeter,  you  see  " — but  he  blushed 

i8 


A   Goddess  and  a  Comic  Song 

and  stammered — "  I  really  never  had  it  altogether 
explained  to  me;  the  women  never  talk  of  it,  and 
yet  the  Cult,  as  they  call  it,  '  the  Cult  of  Demeter,' 
is  the  most  important  thing  to  them  in  the  world." 

I  went  on  eating  my  breakfast  and  trying  to 
guess  what  Cleon  was  driving  at,  but  altogether 
failed. 

^'  What  does  this  Cult  of  Demeter  have  to  do 
with  your  sister?  "  I  asked  at  last. 

"  Why,"  answered  Cleon,  looking  round  cau- 
tiously and  lowering  his  voice,  "  Lydia  is  a  De- 
metrian." 

"  What  does  that  mean — '  Demetrlan  '?  " 

"  It  means  that  she  has  been  selected  by  De- 
meter." 

"  Do  try  to  remember,"  I  said  a  little  impa- 
tiently, ''  that  I  know  nothing  about  your  De- 
meter and  can  make  neither  head  nor  tail  of  what 
you  are  saying." 

The  irritation  I  felt  made  me  aware  that  I  was 
jealous  of  Chairo,  jealous  of  Demeter,  and  infat- 
uated with  Lydia.  Cleon's  half  explanations 
seemed  to  be  putting  Lydia  out  of  my  reach,  and 
I  was  exasperated  at  not  being  able  to  understand 
just  how  far. 

*'  Well,"  answered  Cleon,  "  I  don't  know 
whether  I  ought  to  tell  you,  but  it's  this  way: 

19 


The  Demetrian 

Lydia  is  awfully  clever  at  figures.  She  can  square 
any  ten  of  them;  add  any  number  of  columns; 
multiply  any  number  by  any  number  all  in  a  flash. 
And  so  she's  been  selected  by  Demeter;  that  is  to 
say,  I  suppose,  they  are  going  to  marry  her  to  some 
great  mathematician." 

"What!"  exclaimed  I,  indignantly.  "They 
are  going  to  sacrifice  her  to  a  mathematician?  " 

"Sacrifice!"  retorted  Cleon  with  open  eyes. 
"  Why,  it  isn't  a  sacrifice!  It  is  the  greatest  honor 
a  woman  can  have!  " 

"  And  what  does  Lydia  say  to  it?  " 

"  She  hasn't  made  up  her  mind." 

"  Oh,  then,  she  has  to  be  consulted,"  said  I,  re- 
lieved.    "  She  cannot  be  compelled." 

"  Oh,  no,"  answered  Cleon,  "  she  is  selected — 
that  is  to  say,  the  honor  is  offered  to  her;  she  may 
not  accept  it  if  she  does  not  like;  but  a  girl  sel- 
dom refuses.  She  is  no  more  likely  to  refuse  the 
mission  of  Demeter  than  Chairo  would  be  to  re- 
fuse the  Presidency.  It  is  very  hard  work  being 
President — very  wearing;  in  fact,  I  should  think 
it  would  be  an  awful  bore;  but  nobody  ever  re- 
fuses it,  because  of  the  honor.  I  suppose  it  is  the 
same  thing  with  the  mission  of  Demeter." 

I  was  more  and  more  puzzled,  but  despaired 
of  getting  satisfaction  from  Cleon. 

20 


CHAPTER    II 

HARVESTING  AND  HARMONY 

WE  had  finished  breakfast  now,  and  my 
hunger  satisfied,  I  was  free  to  look 
about  me  a  little.  The  hall  was  lofty, 
and  the  roof  supported  by  Gothic  arches,  sculp- 
tured by  hands  that  had  enjoyed  the  work;  for 
although  the  design  of  the  building  was  simple 
and  dignified  it  was  covered  with  ornaments  of 
bewildering  complexity.  We  were  waited  on  by 
women  who  could  not  be  distinguished  from  those 
upon  whom  they  waited;  of  every  age  and  of 
every  type,  most  of  them  were  glowing  with 
health  and  cheerfulness.  They  laughed  a  great 
deal  with  one  another,  and  offered  me  advice  as 
to  what  they  put  before  me;  warned  me  when  a 
dish  was  hot,  and  recommended  the  cream  as  par- 
ticularly fresh  and  sweet.  They  made  me  feel 
as  though  I  had  been  there  for  years  and  knew 
every  one  of  them  intimately.  Just  as  we  were 
finishing,  a  fine  old  man  with  a  white  beard  and 
a  patriarchal  countenance  joined  us: 

21 


The  Demetrian 

"  You  come  from  a  couple  of  centuries  ago," 
he  said. 

"Is  it  two  centuries,  or  a  thousand  years?" 
asked  I. 

"  I  have  been  looking  at  your  clothes;  you 
don't  mind,  do  you?  they  indicate  the  end  of  the 
nineteenth  or  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century." 

"  You  have  guessed  right,"  said  I ;  ''  and  what 
year  are  you?  " 

"  We  count  from  the  last  Constitution  which 
was  voted  ninety-three  years  ago,  in  201 1  of  your 
reckoning.     So  we  call  the  present  year  93." 

"  So  you  have  given  up  the  old  Constitution," 
I  said  with  a  touch  of  sentiment  in  my  voice. 

"  Yes,  it  had  to  be  changed  when  we  advanced 
to  where  we  are  now  in  methods  of  manufacture 
and  distribution  of  profits." 

'*  Can  you  give  your  methods  a  name?" 

"You  used  to  call  it  Collectivism;  we  call  it 
Solidarity." 

"  You  mean  to  say  you  actually  practise  Col- 
lectivism! " 

The  patriarch  smiled. 

"  Your  writers  used  to  say  it  was  impossible," 
he  said;  "just  as  the  English  engineers  once  said 
the  building  of  the  Suez  Canal  was  impossible, 
and  our  own  engineers  the  building  of  the  Panama 

22 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

Canal  was  impossible.  As  a  matter  of  fact.  Col- 
lectivism is  as  much  easier  than  your  old  plan  as 
mowing  with  a  reaper  is  easier  than  mowing  with 
a  scythe.  You  will  see  this  for  yourself — and  you 
will  see "  here  his  brow  darkened — "  that  the 
real  problem — the  as  yet  unsolved  problem — is  a 
very  different  one.  But  Cleon  must  join  the  hay- 
makers; what  would  you  like  to  do?" 

I  was  much  interested  in  the  old  man  and  was 
anxious  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say  about  the  "  as 
yet  unsolved  problem,"  which  I  already  guessed. 
But  I  was  still  more  anxious  to  be  with  Lydia,  so 
I  asked: 

"  Does  Cleon  work  with  his  sister?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Cleon,  "  on  the  slope,  a  few  min- 
utes from  here." 

"  Perhaps  I  had  better  make  myself  useful," 
said  I  hypocritically. 

I  thought  I  detected  a  little  smile  behind  the 
big  white  beard  as  the  old  man  said  to  Cleon, 
"Well,  hurry  off  now;  you  are  late." 

I  followed  Cleon  up  the  hill.  He  explained 
to  me  on  the  way  that  the  meadows  were  all  cut 
by  machinery,  but  that  the  slopes  had  still  to  be 
cut  by  hand.  We  soon  came  upon  a  group  in 
which  I  recognized  Lydia  and  Ariston.  They 
were  on  a  steep  hill.     Lydia  was  swinging  her 

23 


The  Demetrian 

scythe  with  the  strength  and  skill  of  a  man.  She 
was  the  nearest  to  me  of  a  row  of  ten,  all  swinging 
together.  Ariston  was  singing  an  air  that  fol- 
lowed the  movement;  he  sang  low;  and  all  joined 
occasionally  in  a  modulated  chorus.  Cleon  took 
up  a  scythe  and  joined  them.  I  was  glad  to  ob- 
serve that  there  was  no  scythe  for  me,  for  I  had 
never  handled  one.  I  stood  watching  the  work. 
When  the  song  was  over  they  worked  in  silence, 
but  the  rhythm  of  their  swinging  replaced  the 
music.  It  reminded  me  of  the  exhilarating  har- 
mony of  an  eight-oared  crew.  At  last  one  of  the 
girls  cried  out,  ''  I  want  to  rest ";  and  all  stopped. 

"  I  was  hoping  some  one  would  cry  '  halt! '  " 
said  Ariston. 

*'  So  was  I,"  whispered  Lydia  to  hirrk 

"  So  were  we  all,"  called  out  the  rest. 

They  sat  down  on  the  grass ;  after  a  moment's 
breathing  space  Ariston  lifted  his  hand;  all  looked 
at  him,  and  he  started  a  fugue  which  was  taken 
up,  one  after  another,  by  the  entire  party;  to  my 
surprise  and  delight  I  recognized  Bach's  Num- 
ber Seven  in  C  flat,  and  I  began  to  understand  the 
role  that  music  might  play  in  the  life  of  a  people, 
and  what  a  pitiable  business  our  twentieth-cen- 
tury notion  of  it  was.  Confined  to  a  few  labori- 
ous executants  and  still  fewer  composers,  the  rich 

24 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

partook  of  it  at  stated  hours  in  overheated  rooms, 
and  the  masses  ignored  it,  except  in  its  most  vul- 
gar form,  almost  altogether;  while  here,  under  a 
tree  in  the  large  light  of  the  sun  during  an  in- 
terval of  rest,  all  not  only  enjoyed  it,  but  joined  in 
it  at  its  best.  I  singled  out  Lydia's  rich  contralto 
and  noted  how  she  dwelt  on  the  notes  that  marked 
changes  of  key,  with  a  delight  in  counter-point 
that  belonged  to  her  mathematical  temperament. 
I  watched  her  every  movement.  She  had  thrown 
off  the  loose  gloves  she  wore  while  mowing  and 
was  lying  on  her  face,  playing  with  a  flower.  The 
posture  would  have  been  regarded  by  us  of  the 
twentieth  century  as  unmaidenly;  but  in  the  at- 
mosphere created  by  the  simplicity  of  these  peo- 
ple I  felt  as  though  I  were  in  one  of  Corot's 
pictures.  Maidenliness  had  ceased  to  be  a  mat- 
ter of  convention  and  had  become  a  matter  of 
fact.  There  was  a  fund  of  reserve  behind  the 
frankness  of  Lydia's  manner  that  conveyed  a  con- 
viction of  rectitude  entirely  beyond  the  necessity 
of  a  rigorous  manner,  or  of  a  particular  method  of 
deportment. 

I  seemed  to  be  transported  back  to  the  peas- 
antry of  some  parts  of  France  or  of  the  Tyrol; 
but  here  was  an  added  refinement  that  demolished 
the  distance  which  had  always  kept  me  despair- 

25 


The  Demetrian 

ingly  aloof  from  these;  here  was  the  charm  of 
frankness,  of  gayety,  and  of  simplicity,  coupled 
with  a  cleanliness  of  person,  delicacy  of  thought 
and  manner,  culture,  art,  music — all  that  makes 
life  beautiful  and  sweet. 

The  young  men  and  women  who  sat  singing 
under  the  trees,  smitten  here  and  there  with 
patches  of  sunlight,  were  all  of  them  comely  and 
wholesome  of  body  and  mind;  but  Lydia  was  to 
me  preeminent;  and  yet,  could  it  be  said  that  she 
was  beautiful?  Her  eyes  were  long  and  narrow 
and  when  I  crossed  glances  with  her  they  escaped 
me;  so  that  I  forgot  the  matter  of  beauty  in  my 
eagerness  to  penetrate  their  meaning;  her  face 
was  too  square  to  satisfy  the  ideal;  her  nose  was 
distinctly  tip-tilted,  like  the  petal  of  a  flower;  her 
mouth  was  large  and  well  shaped — altogether  de- 
sirable; and  her  hair  was  flaxen  and  straight,  but 
in  its  coils  it  seemed  to  have  a  separate  life  of  its 
own  so  brightly  did  it  gleam  and  glow. 

Lydia  was  the  first  to  jump  up  and  suggest 
that  work  be  resumed;  and  as  she  stood  among 
the  prostrate  forms  of  her  companions  she  em- 
bodied to  my  mind  Diana,  with  a  scythe  in  her 
hand  instead  of  a  bow.  All  arose  together  and 
set  to  work  again,  but  in  silence  this  time;  and 
under  the  shade  where  I  sat,  nothing  broke  the 

26 


Harvesting  and  Harmony- 
quiet  save  the  hum  of  insect  life  in  the  blazing 
sun  and  the  periodic  swirl  of  the  reapers.  They 
did  not  rest  again  until  the  patch  of  hillside  at 
which  they  worked  was  mown,  when  with  a  sigh 
of  satisfaction  they  rested  a  moment  on  their 
scythes;  but  for  a  moment  only,  for  presently 
Lydia  ran  for  shelter  from  the  sun  to  the  shade  of 
the  tree  under  which  I  sat.  She  reclined  quite 
close  to  me,  looked  me  frankly  in  the  face  and 
smiled.  I  was  surprised  to  find  eyes  that  had 
escaped  me  till  now  suddenly  become  fixed  com- 
posedly on  mine,  and  noticed  for  the  first  time 
that  these  women  put  on  and  off  their  coquetry 
according  to  the  context  of  their  thought,  for 
presently  she  said: 

"  I  am  afraid  you  are  lazy! " 

"  I  believe  I  am,"  answered  I. 

"  You  mean  to  say  you  wouldn't  like  to  join 
us  in  our  work?  " 

There  was  not  the  slightest  reproach  in  her 
voice,  only  surprise. 

"  I  much  prefer  looking  at  you,"  I  replied 
with  a  little  attempt  at  gallantry.  But  there  was 
no  response  in  her  eyes  that  remained  fixed  on 
me.  She  was  trying  to  explain  me  to  herself.  I 
felt  uncomfortable  at  being  a  mere  object  of  ab- 
stract curiosity.     She  w^as  reclining  on  her  side, 

27. 


The  Demetrian 

resting  on  one  hand:  in  the  other  hand  she  was 
absently  twisting  a  flower  she  had  plucked.  Not- 
withstanding my  discomfort  I  rejoiced  in  at  last 
plunging  my  look  deep  into  hers.  What  was  hap- 
pening in  the  blue  depths  of  those  eyes?  I  felt 
as  though  I  were  trying  to  penetrate  the  secrets 
of  a  house  the  windows  of  which  reflected  more 
light  than  they  passed  through.  I  saw  the  reflec- 
tion only.  Behind  was  a  judge  weighing  me  in 
the  balance,  but  as  to  whose  judgment  I  could 
form  no  idea.  And  although  I  was  conscious  that 
in  her  I  had  a  critic,  I  was  so  bewitched  by  her 
charm  that  I  said  to  her  in  an  undertone — for  the 
others  were  talking  to  one  another: 

"You  are  very  beautiful!" 

She  waved  her  flower  before  my  eyes  as 
though  to  put  a  material  obstacle,  however  frail, 
between  us  and  smiled;  but  she  looked  down  pres- 
ently and  laughingly  answered: 

"  That  doesn't  make  you  any  the  less  lazy." 

I  did  not  wish  to  be  set  down  permanently  in 
her  mind  as  good  for  nothing,  so  I  explained: 

"I  am  not  incurably  so;  indeed,  at  my  own 
work  I  was  industrious;  but  I  never  held  a  scythe 
in  my  life." 

She  looked  at  me  again  in  open-eyed  wonder. 

"  What  was  '  your  own  work  '?  "  asked  she. 
28 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

"  I  practised  law." 

"  What,  nothing  but  law?  Did  you  never  get 
tired  of  doing  nothing  but  law?  " 

"  We  believed  in  specializing." 

"Ah,  I  remember!  The  nineteenth  century 
was  the  great  century  of  specialization.  Later  on 
it  was  found  that  specialization  was  necessary  to 
original  work,  but  that  it  brutalized  labor;  we 
have  very  few  specialists  now:  only  those  who 
have  genius  for  particular  things,  as,  for  example, 
doctors,  engineers,  electricians — but  we  have  no 
lawyers.''^  She  laughed  at  me  with  bantering  but 
good-natured  contempt  in  her  laugh  as  she  em- 
phasized the  word  "  lawyers."  "  And  you  mean 
to  say  you  did  nothing  but  lawyerise?  "  And  she 
suddenly  with  finger  and  thumb  lifted  my  free 
hand  that  was  resting  on  the  grass — for  I  was  re- 
clining on  my  other  elbow,  too — and  I  became 
aware  that  my  hand  was  soft  and  white. 

"  It  wasn't  always  soft  and  white,"  I  ex- 
plained. "  I  did  a  great  deal  of  rowing  at  col- 
lege." 

She  kept  hold  of  my  hand  with  finger  and 
thumb  and  laughed  gently: 

"  I  don't  believe  it  ever  did  a  useful  bit  of 
work  in  its  life." 

I  was  piqued;  and  yet  her  low  laugh  was  so 
29 


The  Demetrian 

catching,  her  long  eyes  so  subtle,  her  lips  so  be- 
witching, that  I  gladly  let  my  hand  hang  in  her 
contemptuous  fingers  so  long  as  I  could  be  near 
her  and  in  commune  with  her. 

"  That  depends  on  what  you  call  useful  work," 
said  I. 

"  I  call  useful  any  work  that  contributes  to  our 
health,  wealth,  and  well-being."  The  coquetry 
went  out  of  her  manner  again  and  she  became 
thoughtful.  ''  The  people  of  that  time  needed 
lawyers  to  fight  their  battles  for  them,  but  we  have 
got  rid  of  at  any  rate  one  principal  occasion  of 
discord — the  occasion  that  made  lawyers  neces- 
sary. We  have  men  specially  versed  in  the  law 
still,  but  they  don't  confine  themselves  to  law; 
they  cut  hay  too.    Ariston  is  a  great  lawyer." 

She  had  dropped  my  hand  by  this  time;  as 
she  mentioned  Ariston  we  both  looked  toward 
him;  one  of  the  girls  exclaimed: 

"  I  am  hot;  let's  sing  something  cool." 

"  The  Fountain,"  called  out  another. 

Ariston  lifted  his  hand  again,  and  after  beat- 
ing a  measure  struck  a  clear  high  note;  he  held 
the  note  during  a  measure  and  then  his  voice  came 
tumbling  down  the  scale  in  bursts  of  semitones 
relieved  by  tonic  spaces,  with  a  variety  that  re- 
minded me  of  the  Shepherd's  song  in  "  Tristan 

30 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

and  Isolde."  The  moment  he  left  the  first  high 
note  it  was  taken  up  by  another  voice  during  the 
full  measure,  and  as  soon  as  the  second  voice 
dropped  down  the  scale,  a  third  one  pitched  the 
high  note  again,  and  so  on  voice  after  voice,  the 
high  note  imaging  the  highest  point  of  the  jet 
d'eauj  and  every  voice  dropping  tumultuously 
down  into  a  placid  pool  of  infinite  variety  below. 
Lydia  did  not  attempt  the  high  note,  but  begin- 
ning low  kept  at  the  low  level  in  peaceful  con- 
trast to  the  sparkling  tenors  and  sopranos,  the 
whole  musical  structure  resting  on  the  bass  which 
moved  ponderously  and  contrapuntally  against 
the  contraltos. 

How  shall  I  tell  the  thoughts  that  crowded 
upon  me  as,  lying  on  my  back,  I  listened  to  this 
amazing  harmony!  The  beginning  reminded  me 
of  one  of  Palestrina's  masses  and  transported  me 
to  a  Christmas  midnight  at  the  church  of  St.  Ger- 
vais;  but  as  soon  as  the  intention  of  the  strain  be- 
came clear  to  me,  I  felt  that  it  belonged  to  the 
open  air,  to  the  eternal  spaces,  to  the  new-mown 
hay,  to  my  radiant  companions.  The  merriment 
of  it,  its  complexity,  its  wholesomeness,  the  de- 
light it  gave — all  brought  to  a  focus  and  intensi- 
fied the  Interest  that  was  growing  within  me  for 
Lydia. 

31 


The  Demetrian 

But  the  whole  party  rose  now  to  begin  work 
on  another  hillside  and  Lydia  turned  to  me  with: 

"Why  do  you  stay  with  us?  Why  not  go  to 
the  Hall?  You  will  find  the  Pater  there;  we  call 
him  the  Pater  because  he  is  the  father  of  the 
settlement.  He  will  want  to  talk  to  you,  and  you 
need  to  talk  to  him."  She  put  an  arch  little  em- 
phasis on  the  word  "  need."  Evidently  she  did 
not  want  me  to  be  loitering  among  them.  I  pre- 
tended to  adopt  her  suggestion  with  alacrity  al- 
though in  my  heart  I  wished  nothing  but  to  re- 
main with  her. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  I  shall  never  get  out  of  my 
bewilderment  unless  I  talk  to  some  one  who  can 
understand  my  point  of  view." 

"  And  you  will  probably  find  Chairo  there," 
she  added,  with  a  provoking  smile.  "  He  was  to 
arrive  to-day." 

Ariston  pricked  his  ear: 

"Ah!"  he  said.  "You  will  enjoy  meeting 
Chairo;  he  is  the  leader  of  our  Radical  party; 
he  is  in  favor  of  all  sorts  of  Radical  measures — 
such  as  the  destruction  of  the  Cult — "  the  women 
looked  at  one  another — "  the  respect  of  private 
property " 

"What!  Do  you  call  the  respect  of  private 
property  Radical?"  asked  I.    "It  was  the  shib- 

32 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

boleth   of   the   Conservatives   in   my   time;   they 
called  it  the  '  sacredness  of  private  property.'  " 

"  Just  as  the  Demetrians  speak  of  the  '  sacred- 
ness '  of  the  Cult  to-day,"  said  Ariston. 

"  Whenever  Hypocrisy  wants  to  preserve  an 
abuse  she  calls  it  Sacred,"  said  a  strong  voice  at 
my  elbow.  I  turned  and  saw  that  a  new  compan- 
ion had  been  added  to  us,  and  I  guessed  at  once 
that  it  was  Chairo. 

He  was  a  splendid  man;  nothing  was  wanting 
to  him — stature,  nor  beauty,  nor  strength.  He 
was  remarkable,  too,  by  the  fact  that  his  face  was 
clean  shaved,  whereas  all  the  other  men  I  had 
met  wore  beards;  but  his  face  bore  a  likeness  so 
striking  to  that  of  Augustus  that  to  have  hidden 
it  by  a  beard  would  have  been  a  desecration.  And 
he  was  strong  enough  in  mind  as  well  as  in  muscle 
to  bear  being  exceptional.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  for  him  to  be  other  than  exceptional. 

Lydia  blushed  as  she  recognized  him,  and  the 
blush  suggested  what  I  most  feared  to  know. 
Chairo  went  to  her  and  without  a  shadow  of  af- 
fectation took  her  hand,  knelt  on  one  knee,  and 
kissed  it.  There  could  have  been  no  clearer  con- 
fession of  his  love.  I  could  not  help  contrasting 
the  frankness  of  this  act  and  the  superb  humility 
of   it  with   the   reticence,    hypocrisy,    and    pride 

33 


The  Demetrian 

that  characterized  our  twentieth-century  love- 
making. 

Lydia  with  her  disengaged  hand  made  a  sign 
of  the  cross  over  his  head;  not  the  rapid,  timid, 
fugitive  conventional  sign  that  Catholics  made  in 
our  day,  but  with  her  whole  arm,  a  large  sign, 
swinging  from  above  her  head  to  his  as  it  bowed 
over  her  hand,  with  a  large  sweep  afterward 
across ;  and  as  she  did  so  I  saw  her  eyes  widen  and 
her  glance  stretch  forward  across  the  heavenly 
distance. 

For  the  first  time  I  felt  the  narrowness  of  my 
life  and  my  own  insignificance.  And  I — I — had 
dared  to  think  I  could  make  love  to  this  woman! 
For  a  moment  it  occurred  to  me  that  Lydia  had 
encouraged  me;  but  so  mean  an  apprehension  of 
her  could  not  live  in  her  presence.  As  she  stood 
there  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  the  bowed 
head  of  her  beloved,  I  knew  that  Love  was  some- 
thing more  in  this  civilization  than  the  satisfac- 
tion of  a  caprice  or  the  banter  of  good-humored 
gallantry;  that  it  was  possible  to  make  of  Love 
a  religion,  without  for  that  reason  sacrificing  the 
charm  of  life,  and  the  particular  charm  that 
makes  the  companionship  of  a  woman  something 
different  from  the  companionship  of  a  man. 

And  yet  I  was  puzzled;  was  Lydia  not  a 
34 


Harvesting  and  Harmony 

Demetrian?  Cleon  had  told  me  she  had  not  yet 
made  up  her  mind;  but  was  there  not  in  this 
greeting  with  Chairo  a  practical  admission  of  a 
betrothal?  And  what  was  the  meaning  of  the 
sign  of  the  cross?  Was  Christianity  still  alive, 
then?  And  if  so,  how  reconcile  Christ  and  De- 
meter?  And  there  swung  through  my  mind  the 
terrible  invocation  of  the  poet:  "Thou  hast  con- 
quered, O  pale  Galilean!  The  world  has  grown 
gray  from  thy  breath." 

When  the  cult  of  Demeter  had  first  been 
hinted  to  me  I  had  assumed  that  the  reign  of  the 
Galilean  was  over,  and  that  the  old  gods  had 
resumed  their  sway.  The  possibility  of  this  had 
admitted  a  note  of  latent  triumph  in  the  hymn 
to  Proserpine. 

Will  thou  yet  take  all,  Galilean  ?     Yet  these  things 

thou  shalt  not  take : 
The  laurel,  the  palm  and  the  paean ;  the  breast  of 

the  nymph  in  the  brake. 

Could  it  be  that  we  could  keep  these  things  and 
yet  remain  loyal  to  the  religion  of  sacrifice? 
Could  we  worship  as  well  at  the  voluptuous  altar 
of  Cytherea  and  at  the  mystic  shrine  of  the  Holy 
Grail? 

My  mind  was  in  a  tumult  of  inquiry  as  Chairo 
35 


The  Demetrian 

arose  from  his  knee  and  engaged  in  conversation 
with  the  group ;  and  though  they  did  not  point  or 
look  at  me  I  knew  that  it  was  of  me  they  were 
talking.  Presently,  Chairo  came  to  me  and  held 
out  his  hand: 

"You  are  a  traveller  from  the  Past,  I  hear! 
Dropped  down  among  us  in  some  unaccountable 
way."  He  looked  me  squarely  in  the  eye  as  he 
held  my  hand  a  moment,  with  a  frank  scrutiny 
that  I  had  already  noticed  in  Lydia.  Then  he 
added: 

"  You  were  returning  to  the  Hall;  if  you  don't 
mind,  I  shall  accompany  you ;  it  is  too  late  for 
me  to  begin  work  before  lunch;  besides,  there  is 
no  scythe  for  me."  And  waving  his  hand  to 
Lydia  and  the  others,  he  walked  away  with  me 
toward  the  Hall. 


36 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  CULT  OF  DEMETER 


"j    ^OR  some  distance  we  walked  in  silence.    At 

1^     last  I  said:  "You  will  not  be  surprised  to 

hear  that  I  am  bewildered;  everything  is 

in  some  respects  so  much  the  same  and  in  others 

so  different." 

"  I  am  curious  to  know  what  bewilders  you 
most." 

"  Well,  it  is  bewildering  enough  to  be  told 
that  you  are  actually  living  under  the  regime  of 
Collectivism — a  thing  which  we  always  consid- 
ered impossible;  but  I  confess  what  piques  my 
curiosity  most  is  this  cult  of  Demeter " 

A  scowl  came  over  Chairo's  face. 

"  How  much  do  you  know  about  it? " 
said  he. 

"  Nothing,  except  that  Lydia  is  a  Demetrian 
and  that  she  is  to  be  married  to  some  mathema- 
tician  " 

"  Married!"  interrupted  Chairo.  "  It  cannot 
37 


The  Demetrian 

be  called  a  marriage!  It  is  a  desecration!"  He 
paused  a  moment  as  if  to  collect  himself  and  then 
began  again  in  a  calmer  voice: 

''  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  speak  of  It  with- 
out impatience;  but  declamation  which  is  well 
enough  on  the  rostrum  is  not  tolerable  in  conver- 
sation, so  I  shall  not  give  way  to  it.  The  cult 
of  Demeter  is  an  abomination — one  of  the  natural 
fruits  of  State  Socialism,  which,  to  my  mind, 
means  the  paralysis  of  individual  effort  and  death 
to  individual  liberty.  I  lead  the  opposition  in 
our  legislature,  and  you  will,  therefore,  take  all 
I  say  with  the  allowance  due  to  one  who  has 
struggled,  his  whole  life  through,  against  what  I 
believe  to  be  an  intolerable  abuse.  The  cult  of 
Demeter  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  at- 
tempt to  breed  men  as  men  breed  animals.  It 
totally  disregards  the  fact  that  a  man  has  a  soul, 
and  that  the  demands  of  a  soul  are  altogether 
paramount  over  those  of  the  body.  To  attempt 
to  breed  men  along  purely  physical  or  mental 
lines  without  regard  to  psychical  aspirations  is 
contrary  not  only  to  common  sense,  but  to  the 
highest  religion.  Did  not  Christ  Himself  say, 
*  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul'?" 

"  You  quote  Christ,"  interrupted  I.  "  Is  it 
38 


The  Cult  of  Demeter 

possible  that  the  Christian  religion  can  live  side 
by  side  with  the  cult  of  Demeter?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Chairo,  "  and  this  is  perhaps  just 
where  the  mischief  lies.  Christianity  has  re- 
mained among  us  as  the  religion  of  sacrifice;  and 
the  priests  of  Demeter  bolster  up  their  hideous 
doctrine  and  their  exorbitant  power  by  appeal  to 
this  religion  of  sacrifice." 

"  But  where,"  asked  I,  "  do  they  derive  this 
power  of  theirs?  " 

"  Where  else,"  answered  Chairo,  "  but  through 
the  hold  they  have  upon  the  imagination  of  the 
women — that  terrible  need  for  ritual  which  has 
given  the  priest  his  power  ever  since  the  world 
began.  Gambetta  was  right,  '  Le  clericalisme ; 
voila  I'ennemi.'  " 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,"  asked  I,  ''  that  super- 
stition has  survived  among  you?" 

"  No,  you  cannot  call  it  superstition;  the  time 
has  long  since  passed  when  the  priesthood  could 
impose  on  the  minds  of  men  through  superstition; 
but  just  because  they  now  appeal  to  a  higher  and 
nobler  function  of  mind  are  they  the  more  dan- 
gerous." 

"  Tell  me,"  I  said — I  paused  a  moment,  for 
I  was  very  anxious  to  ask  a  question  and  yet  a 
little  afraid  to  do  so. 

39 


The  Demetrian 

But  Chairo  looked  at  me  again  with  a  look 
so  frank  that  I  ventured: 

"  Tell  me,"  I  said,  "  is  Lydia  going  to  accept 
the  mission?  " 

"  No  one  can  tell,"  said  Chairo.  "  She  is  pro- 
foundly religious,  profoundly  possessed  with  this 
notion  of  sacrifice;  she  has  been  brought  up  to 
believe  the  mission  of  Demeter  the  highest  honor 
which  the  state  can  give,  and  it  comes  to  her  now 
clothed  with  all  the  mysticism  of  a  strange  ritual 
and  a  religious  obligation.  Think  of  it:  just  be- 
cause she  has  the  talent  of  rapid  calculation,  a 
knack  which  you  in  your  time  used  to  exhibit  as 
a  freak  in  a  country  fair,  she  is  to  be  sacrificed — 
ah,  if  it  were  only  a  sacrifice  I  shouldn't  com- 
plain— but  she  is  to  be  contaminated.  She  is  to 
be  contaminated,  because,  forsooth,  it  is  believed 
that  by  coupling  this  knack  of  calculation  with 
one  possessing  a  profounder  genius  for  mathe- 
matics, she  will  bring  into  the  world  a  being  fur- 
ther endowed  with  mathematical  ability.  What 
if  she  did;  is  there  not  something  in  the  world 
worth  more  than  mathematics?  " 

"  And  what  mathematician  will  be  selected?  " 
asked  I. 

"  That  is  the  wicked  part  of  it,"  answered 
Chairo;  "that  matter  is  absolutely  in  the  hands 

40 


The  Cult  of  Demeter 

of  the  priests.    My  God!"  he  said,  "  I  shall  not 
endure  it. 

His  eyes  flashed,  and  his  voice,  though  low, 
rang  as  he  spoke  these  words.  But  we  were  now 
approaching  the  Hall  and  we  saw  the  Pater,  as 
they  called  him,  sitting  upon  the  veranda.  "  I 
have  spoken  vigorously,"  he  said  in  a  lower  voice, 
as  we  approached  the  Hall — "  perhaps  too  vigor- 
ously; but  I  do  not  mean  to  disguise  my  inten- 
tion. I  would  not  speak  in  this  way  upon  a  public 
platform,  because  they  would  endeavor  to  stop 
me,  and  the  issue  would  be  raised  before  public 
opinion  is  ripe  for  it.  But  I  warn  you  the  Pater 
is  on  the  side  of  the  priests,  and  so,  to  avoid  dis- 
cussion, which  we  seldom  allow  to  interfere  with 
the  harmony  of  our  domestic  life,  I  recommend 
you  not  to  speak  of  these  things  to  the  Pater  when 
I  am  present." 

The  Pater  arose  and  advanced  to  meet  us, 
holding  out  his  hands  to  Chairo. 

"  Welcome  to  Tyringham,"  he  said.  And 
then  looking  toward  me  he  added :  "  You  could 
not  get  hold  of  a  better  man  to  explain  to  you  the 
changes  that  have  occurred  since  your  time,  but 
I  warn  you  he  will  not  give  you  an  optimistic 
view  of  them." 

I  smiled,  but  said  nothing. 
41 


The  Demetrian 

After  a  few  words  about  the  weather  and  the 
crops  Chairo  left  us,  and  I  at  once  began  upon 
the  burning  theme. 

I  repeated  to  him  the  substance  of  what 
Chairo  had  said,  leaving  out  the  heat,  the  indig- 
nation, and  the  threat.  I  sat  down  on  the  bal- 
cony with  the  Pater,  and  he,  after  listening  to  me, 
began : 

"  Chairo  is  a  man  of  extraordinary  gifts,  and 
has,  of  course,  the  quality  which  generally  at- 
tends these  gifts — inordinate  ambition.  Such 
men  are  naturally  prone  to  favor  individualism 
as  opposed  to  collective  action,  and  to  desire  the 
rewards  that  come  from  individual  success.  It 
was  such  men  as  Chairo  who  prevented  so  long 
the  realization  of  Solidarity,  and  who  will  al- 
ways constitute  a  formidable  opposition.  Nor, 
indeed,  would  it  be  well  for  the  state  that  they 
should  cease  to  exist;  for  the  CoUectivist  com- 
munity would  soon  lapse  into  mere  routine  and 
officialism,  were  it  not  kept  perpetually  at  its  best 
by  the  opposition  of  just  such  as  these. 

"  Unfortunately  in  this  particular  case  his  op- 
position is  rendered  not  only  acute  but  danger- 
ous, by  the  fact  that  he  has  come  into  collision 
with  one  of  the  most  precious  institutions  of  the 
state,  through  his  inordinate  passion  for  Lydia. 

42 


The  Cult  of  Demeter 

Indeed,  I  had  Chairo  in  mind  wlien  I  said  to  you, 
as  we  parted,  that  the  economic  problem  pre- 
sented by  the  distribution  of  wealth  was  by  far 
the  least  of  the  problems  that  presented  them- 
selves. The  desire  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth 
is  an  artificial  desire;  it  grew  with  the  institution 
of  private  property,  and  when  the  institution  of 
private  property  was  abolished  the  desire  for  it 
very  soon,  in  great  part,  disappeared.  But  the 
desire  of  a  man  for  a  woman  is  an  elemental  pas- 
sion which  has  its  root  deep  down  in  the  neces- 
sities of  human  nature.  This  passion  will  always 
be  with  us  and  will  always  tend,  when  coupled 
with  such  abilities  as  Chairo's,  to  disrupt  the 
state." 

"  But,"  I  interrupted,  "  is  not  this  cult  of 
Demeter  a  dangerous  thing?  " 

"  To  the  mind  of  Chairo,"  answered  he,  "  in- 
flamed as  it  is  by  his  love  for  Lydia,  undoubtedly 
it  is.  But  all  those  who  belong  to  Chairo's  party 
and  hate  Collectivism  because  it  doesn't  furnish 
them  the  reward  which  they  feel  due  to  their 
ability,  are  using  this  issue  in  an  attempt  to  break 
up  the  entire  system.  But  consider  for  a  moment 
what  is  this  cult  of  Demeter  which  you  think  so 
dangerous.  In  the  first  place  there  is  in  it  no 
coercion,   absolutely  none:  the  priests  tender  to 

43 


The  Demetrian 

such  women  as  they  think  proper  the  mission  of 
Demeter,  and  this  mission  can  be  accepted  or  de- 
clined; no  disgrace  attends  the  declining  of  it; 
the  woman  to  whom  it  is  offered  is  absolutely 
free.  In  the  second  place,  the  cult  is  to  the  ut- 
most degree  reasonable.  Let  us,  for  a  moment, 
glance  at  the  notions  that  have  prevailed  on  this 
subject  in  times  past. 

"  From  the  earliest  civilization  the  notion  has 
prevailed  that  the  most  highly  religious  act  a 
woman  could  perform  was  to  make  the  sacrifice 
involved  in  celibacy.  We  see  it  in  one  of  its  most 
beautiful  developments  at  Rome.  There,  to  the 
Vestal  Virgins  was  entrusted  the  maintenance  of 
the  sacrificial  flame;  to  them  were  accorded  the 
highest  honors  of  the  Roman  state,  the  most  fa- 
vored places  at  all  state  functions;  they  alone, 
except  the  consuls,  were  preceded  in  the  street 
by  lictors,  and  if,  in  walking  through  the  streets 
of  Rome,  they  met  a  criminal  going  to  execution, 
he  was  immediately  set  free.  The  sacrifice  re- 
quired by  this  institution  was  chastity.  So,  in  the 
Christian  Church,  those  of  both  sexes  who  desired 
to  give  themselves  particularly  to  the  worship  of 
Christ  secluded  themselves  in  convents  and  took 
the  vow  of  chastity.  Yet  what  a  barren  piece  of 
sentimentality  it  was!    We  respect  it  still,  because 

44 


The   Cult  of  Demeter 

there  was  in  it  the  element  of  sacrifice;  but  a 
woman  capable  of  such  self-sacrifice  as  this  com- 
mits a  crime  against  the  body  politic  by  refusing 
to  become  the  mother  of  children;  it  is  just  from 
such  women  as  these  that  we  want  to  raise  new 
generations,  capable  of  carrying  the  torch  of  civ- 
ilization onward  in  its  march.  The  real  sacrifice 
to  be  demanded  of  these  is  not  chastity;  it  is  the 
surrender  of  personal  inclination  to  the  benefit 
of  the  commonwealth.  The  real  sacrifice  con- 
sists in  refusing  to  leave  the  maternal  function  at 
the  mercy  of  a  momentary  caprice,  and,  on  the 
contrary,  in  consecrating  it  to  a  noble  purpose 
and  to  the  general  good.  But  you  can  hardly  un- 
derstand all  this  till  you  have  heard  the  story  of 
Latona,  who  founded  the  cult — the  first  and 
greatest  saint  in  our  calendar." 

The  Pater  did  not  persuade  me;  it  was  hor- 
rible to  me  that  it  should  be  in  the  power  of  any 
man  or  men,  by  appealing  to  a  woman's  willing- 
ness to  sacrifice  herself  or  by  the  exercise  of  priest- 
ly craft,  to  condemn  her  to  marriage  without  love, 
which,  to  my  mind,  is  its  only  justification. 

"  And  you  think,"  said  I,  protesting,  "  that  it 
is  right  to  sacrifice  the  love  of  a  woman  for  life?  " 

"No,"  interrupted  the  Pater,  "not  for  life! 
There  you  labor  under  a  mistake.    Let  me  tell  you 

45 


The  Demetrian 

what  happens:  if  a  woman  accepts  the  mission 
she  becomes  attached  to  the  temple  of  Demeter, 
and  while  attending  upon  the  ritual  is  slowly  pre- 
pared for  the  act  of  sacrifice;  this  is  a  period  of 
seclusion  and  prayer.  Not  that  we  believe  in  the 
existence  of  a  goddess  Demeter,  but  that  Demeter 
represents  to  us  that  divinity  in  our  own  hearts 
which  puts  passion  under  constraint,  and  makes 
of  it,  not  a  capricious  tyrant,  but  a  servant  to  hu- 
man happiness — our  own  happiness  best  under- 
stood, believe  me — as  well  as  the  happiness  of  the 
community.  And  so  the  Vestal — for  so  we  entitle 
her — invokes  and  keeps  herself  in  communion 
with  this  special  divinity  within  us  each,  and 
without  us  all,  until  her  heart  is  lifted  into  a  con- 
sciousness of  her  mission  as  the  highest  ppssible 
to  her  sex.  Compare  that,  my  friend,  with  the 
maternity  which  is  often  the  undesired  conse- 
quence of  a  caprice  or  ceremony.  But  as  I  have 
already  hinted,  the  sacrifice  is  neither  imposed  at 
all,  nor  is  it  suggested  for  a  lifetime. 

"  Indeed,  the  Demetrian  ceremony,  once  con- 
summated, often  results  in  permanent  marriage; 
upon  this  point  the  woman  has  the  first  word; 
though,  of  course,  the  ultimate  conclusion  must 
rest  upon  the  consent  of  both.  For  example,  the 
woman  decides  the  question  whether  the  bride- 

46 


The   Cult  of  Demeter 

groom  shall  become  known  to  her.  Some  women, 
in  whom  the  instinct  of  the  mother  predominates 
over  that  of  the  wife,  elect  never  to  know  the 
father  of  their  child;  and  as  soon  as  pregnancy  is 
assured,  cease  all  relations  with  him.  Others,  in- 
deed the  great  majority,  become  mystically  at- 
tached to  the  man  who,  in  the  obscurity  of  the 
Demetrian  temple,  has  accomplished  for  them  the 
mission  of  their  motherhood;  they  ask  to  see  him; 
and  if  upon  fuller  acquaintance  both  consent,  a 
provisional  marriage  is  celebrated  between  them." 

"  Provisional  marriage!"  exclaimed  I,  aghast 
again. 

"  All  our  first  marriages  are  provisional,"  an- 
swered the  Pater  with  magnificent  disregard  for 
my  indignation.  "  What  can  be  more  preposter- 
ous— more  fatal  to  happiness — than  to  commit  a 
man  and  woman  for  life  to  bonds  accepted  at  an 
age  when  the  mind  is  immature,  and  under  an 
impulse  which  is  notoriously  blinding.  It  became 
a  commonplace  paradox  in  your  time  that  the 
fact  of  being  in  love  was  a  convincing  argument 
against  marriage;  for  a  human  being  in  love  is 
one  who  has  been  by  so  much  deprived  of  reason 
— by  so  much  deprived  of  the  exercise  of  the  very 
judgment  most  necessary  to  select  a  life  compan- 
ion.    Look  back  at  the  consequences  of  your  in- 

47 


The  Demetrian 

stitution  of  marriage:  in  your  time  it  was  already 
in  process  of  dissolution;  the  facility  of  divorce 
had  already  destroyed  the  indissolubility  of  mar- 
riage, and  made  of  it  a  mere  time  contract.  And 
divorce,  that  the  clergy  of  your  day  regarded  as 
a  trespass  of  Immorality  on  the  sanctity  of  the 
marriage  tie,  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  protest 
of  Morality  against  the  immoral  consequences  of 
the  indissolubility  of  the  marriage  tie.  No,  there 
are  two  essential  elements  in  sexual  morality:  one 
is  temperance;  the  other  is  sacrifice.  All  are  ex- 
pected to  practise  the  one;  the  few  only  are  ca- 
pable of  practising  the  other.  The  art  is  to  frame 
institutions  which  recognize  this  and  to  accom- 
modate the  institution  to  the  temperament  of  the 
race " 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  I,  ''  but  this  is  just  where 
you  fail;  how  are  you  accommodating  your  Deme- 
trian institutions  to  such  temperaments  as  those 
of  Lydia  and  Chairo?  Do  you  not  see  that  by 
imposing  them  in  such  cases  as  theirs  you  are 
risking  the  wreck  of  your  entire  system?  " 

"  You  are  perhaps  right,"  answered  the  Pater. 
"  I  am  not  initiated  into  the  secrets  of  the  priest- 
hood; but  it  may  be  easily  guessed  that  upon  the 
application  of  the  system  there  may  well  be  diver- 
gence of  opinion.    We  have  already  seen  the  sys- 

48 


The   Cult  of  Demeter 

tern  result  in  infamous  outrage  in  the  South,  and 
give  rise  to  the  necessity  of  government  interven- 
tion— a  very  dangerous  thing  in  such  questions." 

"  But  how  do  you  practise  this  system  of  pro- 
visional marriage?" 

"  Simply  enough:  the  first  marriage  is  always 
provisional;  if  a  child  is  born,  the  marriage  must 
last  until  the  child  is  weaned;  at  that  time  the 
parties  are  expected  either  to  renew  the  vow  of 
fidelity  in  the  temple  of  Demeter,  or  to  renounce 
it.  They  can  at  that  time  renounce  it  without  dis- 
grace, though  it  is  seldom  renounced  without 
heart-burning;  one  wants  to  renounce  and  the 
other  to  renew.  But  both  know  in  advance  that 
the  day  of  the  weaning — which  is  a  function  of 
the  cult — is  the  day  upon  which  final  vows  are 
to  be  pronounced;  both  prepare  for  it,  and  its 
inevitable  coming  insures  on  the  part  of  the 
one  who  most  desires  the  renewal  a  conduct  of  a 
nature  to  insure  it.  But  renunciation  on  the  part 
of  either  involves  no  disgrace.  A  second  renun- 
ciation after  a  second  marriage  is  otherwise. 
There  is  no  institutional  obstacle  to  it;  each  or 
both  can  at  any  time  renounce;  but  public  opin- 
ion has  happily  created  a  sentiment  against  a  sec- 
ond renunciation,  which  makes  them  rare.  This 
is  just  where  the  system  broke  down  in  the  South; 

49 


The  Demetrian 

the  public  opinion  against  repeated  renunciations 
did  not  exist;  caprice  became  the  order  of  the 
day;  the  priests  of  Demeter  became  corrupt;  and 
sexual  disorder  involved,  as  it  always  must,  every 
conceivable  other  disorder  in  the  state." 

"  And  what  was  done?  "  I  asked. 

The  Pater  looked  grave :  "  The  Government 
interfered  and  substituted  state  control  for  in- 
dividual control.  It  is  this  that  furnishes  to 
Chairo  and  his  party  their  strongest  weapon. 
State  control  is  abominable;  institutions  like  ours 
are  possible  only  in  a  community  possessed  of  such 
a  moral  sense  as  prevails  in  these  New  England 
States." 

"  But  how  could  the  Government  undertake 
control  of  marriage?  " 

"  By  an  extension  of  our  State  Colony  system; 
this  you  will  understand  only  when  you  have  seen 
the  working  of  the  State  Colony  system  for  your- 
self." 

One  thing  more  I  was  eager  to  know.  "  What 
had  the  gesture  of  Lydia,  as  Chairo  kissed  her 
hand,  meant;  was  it  an  acceptance?"  I  asked  the 
Pater,  and  he  answered: 

*'  Just  as  it  is  no  disgrace  to  a  man  that  a 
woman  should  not  return  his  love,  so  is  it  no  dis- 
grace to  a  woman  that  she  should  withhold  her 

50 


The  Cult  of  Demeter 

answer.  In  your  time  a  woman  who  did  not  re- 
spond affirmatively  or  negatively  to  a  proposal  of 
marriage  was  accused  of  playing  fast  and  loose. 
But  we  do  not  regard  it  as  a  bad  thing  for  a  man 
to  be  kept  waiting,  or  for  a  woman  to  keep  him 
waiting;  indeed,  I  am  reminded  of  a  word  of  one 
of  your  own  authors  who  said  that  there  was  no 
better  education  for  a  man's  character  than  the 
effort  to  win  the  love  of  a  worthy  woman.  And 
so,  when  a  man  has  altogether  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  loves  a  woman,  he  does  not  feel  it  neces- 
sary to  keep  his  love  secret  till  he  knows  whether 
the  woman  will  accept  it;  on  the  contrary,  he 
makes  open  confession  of  it  as  Chairo  did.  And  the 
woman,  if  she  is  not  prepared  to  decide,  responds 
to  such  an  act  as  Chairo's,  with  a  sign  of  the 
cross  to  indicate  that  she  is  for  the  time  being  set 
apart  until  such  time  as  she  has  prayerfully  con- 
sidered. And  in  Lydia's  case,  this  has  a  double 
signification;  her  choice  is  doubly  religious,  in 
that  she  not  only  has  to  consult  her  heart  as  to 
her  love  for  Chairo,  but  also  her  conscience  as 
to  her  duty  to  the  cult." 

I  was  glad  that  the  reapers  began  returning 
and  that  our  conversation  was  brought  to  a  close 
by  their  return,  for  I  was  fairly  tired.  Great  as 
was  my  curiosity  to  know  more  of  these  singu- 

51 


The  Deinetrian 

lar  institutions  I  felt  the  need  of  thinking  a 
little  about  them  before  my  mind  was  crowded 
with  further  information.  And  so  I  gladly  re- 
turned to  the  men's  quarters,  which  were  becom- 
ing crowded  with  those  who  had  more  right  there 
than  I  to  a  plunge  in  the  crystal  pool.  We  were 
soon  ready  for  lunch,  and  I  was  accompanied 
thither  by  Chairo,  Cleon,  and  Ariston. 


52 


CHAFER   IV 

ANNA  OF  ANN 

MY  place  at  lunch  was  by  the  side  of  the 
Mater.  I  soon  guessed  that  she  was  the 
wife  of  the  patriarchal  old  man  with 
whom  I  had  been  conversing.  She  had  a  deli- 
cious air  of  comfortable  embonpoint,  a  clear  skin, 
pink  cheeks,  and  massive  white  hair.  She  was  al- 
ready seated  when  Ariston  took  me  to  her  table, 
and,  moving  the  empty  chair  a  little  to  help  me 
to  my  seat,  she  said,  smiling: 

"  You  are  to  sit  here ;  I  am  dreadfully  anxious 
to  talk  to  you;  where  on  earth  have  you  come 
from  now?  " 

I  sat  down  by  her,  and  answered : 
"  I  wish  you  could  explain  it  to  me." 
She  looked  me  in  the  face  and  said:  ''You 
look  just  like  the  rest  of  us,  except,  that  only 
our  priests  shave";  I  looked  in  the  direction  of 
Chairo  inquiringly.  "  Oh,  yes,  Chairo  shaves,  and 
a  few  others  who  want  to  be  peculiar;  but  all  of 
us  simple  folk " 

53 


The  Demetrian 

She  chuckled  a  little,  and  then,  bending  near 
me,  whispered  in  my  ear:  "  I  have  been  looking 
at  your  trousers! " 

I  made  a  deprecating  gesture  and  smiled;  she 
joined  me,  but  in  a  laugh  so  brimming  over  with 
merriment  and  so  contagious  that  very  soon  all 
the  table  had  joined  but  without  knowing  why. 
When  the  Mater  had  finished  laughing  and  the 
others  with  her,  Ariston  said: 

*'  Well,  Mater,  now  that  you've  finished  laugh- 
ing, perhaps  you  will  tell  us  what  it's  all  about?  " 

"Indeed,  I  won't,"  answered  she;  and  there 
was  almost  a  wink  in  her  innocent  old  eye  as  she 
turned  to  me  and  said:  "  It  is  a  secret — isn't  it? — 
a  secret  between  us  two,"  and  she  patted  my  hand 
as  if  I  had  been  her  son. 

I  promised  her  with  exaggerated  solemnity 
never  to  reveal  it,  and  she  patted  my  hand  again 
and  added: 

"  I  see  you'll  become  one  of  us — one  of  the 
Tyringham  Colony;  we  always  come  together  at 
every  harvest  time — as  indeed  do  all  the  other 
colonies — only  we  think  our  colony  is  just  a  little 
bit  nicer  than  every  other." 

"  And  so  does  every  other,"  said  Ariston, 
"  think  itself  better  than  the  rest." 

"  And  so  all  are  happy,"  answered  the  Mater 
54 


Anna  of  Ann 

convincingly.    "  But  have  you  met  your  neighbor, 
Anna  of  Ann?" 

I  turned  to  my  right,  and  saw  that  Lydia  was 
not  the  only  beautiful  woman  at  Tyringham. 
Anna  of  Ann  was  of  a  different  type.  Her  fea- 
tures were  delicate;  the  eye  was  not  remarkable; 
indeed,  her  glance  was  veiled  and  almost  disap- 
pointing; her  nose  was  ordinary;  her  skin  clear 
but  colorless;  it  was  assuredly  in  her  mouth,  and 
perhaps  in  her  low  forehead  and  clustering  hair, 
that  her  beauty  resided;  and  as  she  spoke  there 
were  little  movements  of  the  lips  that  were  be- 
witching: 

"  No,  I  have  not  been  haymaking  with  Aris- 
ton's  group  and  so  we  have  not  spoken,"  she  said. 
"  But  I  saw  you  this  morning  after  breakfast, 
and  "—she  added  archly—"  I  stared  at  you  with 
all  the  others;  we  were  dreadfully  rude!  But 
then,  there  was  some  excuse  for  us,  wasn't 
there?" 

"  Every  excuse,"  I  answered  reassuringly. 
"  But  tell  me,  what  do  you  do  when  you  are  not 
haymaking?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean;  work  or  play?  " 

"What  do  you  work  at,   and  what  do  you 

play  at?  " 

"  My  work  generally  consists  in  attending  at 

55 


The  Demetrian 

the  public  store;  I  sell  in  the  hosiery  department 
at  New  York." 

"  And  what  do  you  play  at?  " 

"  Sculpture." 

"  She's  a  great  sculptor,"  volunteered  Cleon, 
nodding  at  her  from  the  other  side  of  the  table. 

"No,  I  am  not,"  deprecated  Anna;  ''I  am 
not  recognized." 

I  looked  at  the  Mater  inquiringly. 

"  By  '  recognized,'  "  said  the  Mater,  "  she 
means  the  state  hasn't  recognized  her;  that  is  to 
say,  she  has  to  do  her  work  at  the  store  or  wher- 
ever else  she  is  assigned  during  the  regular  three 
hours  a  day.  When  the  state  recognizes  her — as 
it  is  sure  to  do  one  of  these  days — she  will  be  al- 
lowed to  devote  all  her  time  to  sculpture." 

"  I  don't  believe  the  state  will  ever  recognize 
her,"  said  Ariston;  "  she  is  a  great  deal  too  good. 
That  Sixth  is  a  fool!" 

"  Sixth  is  head  of  the  fine  arts  department," 
explained  the  Mater.  "  His  full  name  is  Sprague 
Sixth;  six  generations  ago  we  had  a  great  artist 
called  Sprague,  who  was  for  twenty  years  our 
secretary  of  the  fine  arts,  and  one  of  his  sons  has 
borne  his  name  ever  since,  until  it  has  become  a 
tradition  in  Massachusetts  that  we  must  have  a 
Sprague  at  the  head  of  our  fine  arts.    This  man 

56 


Anna  of  Ann 

Sprague  Sixth,  whom  we  call  Sixth  for  short, 
doesn't  believe  anybody  can  be  good  at  art  unless 
he  has  studied  in  the  state  school.  Now  Anna 
did  not  show  any  talent  until  her  school  days  were 
over  and  she  had  been  assigned  to  work  in  the 
store." 

"  And  now  there  is  no  chance  for  her,"  said 
Ariston  ironically. 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  exclaimed  Cleon,  tak- 
ing Ariston  seriously,  "  she  can  be  a  great  artist, 
without  being  recognized?  " 

'*  I  am  not  sure  I  want  to  be  recognized,"  said 
Anna.  "  If  I  were  recognized  I  should  have  to 
spend  half  my  day  in  doing  dull  things  for  the 
state  to  please  Sixth;  whereas,  now  one  half  of 
the  day  is  spent  in  doing  mechanical  work  at  the 
store;  the  other  half  I  have  fresh  for  my  own 
work.  I  am  going  to  ask  to  be  assigned  to  a  fac- 
tory; for  factory  work  is  still  more  mechanical 
than  that  of  the  store,  and  I  can  then  be  more 
free  to  think  of  my  own  work." 

All  this  was  very  strange  and  illuminating.  A 
sculptor  asking  to  do  factory  work! 

"  But  won't  factory  work  be  very  hard  and 
brutalizing?  "  I  asked. 

Anna  looked  at  me,  puzzled,  and  Ariston 
came  to  her  rescue. 

57 


The  Demetrian 

"  I  don't  think,"  he  said,  "  Anna  appreciates 
your  point  of  view.  In  your  day  all  factory  work 
was  done  purely  to  make  money;  the  factories 
were  uncomfortable  places,  and  workmen  had  to 
work  eight  and  ten  hours  a  day.  Now  that  most 
of  us  have  to  do  some  factory  work  during  the 
year,  inventiveness  has  set  to  work  to  make  the 
factory  comfortable,  and  as  we  all  of  us  have  to 
work  for  the  state  and  we  no  longer  have  to  pay 
the  cost  of  competition,  three  or  four  hours  a  day 
are  all  that  are  necessary  to  furnish  the  whole 
community  with  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life." 

"  And  so  I  can  give  the  rest  of  the  day  to 
sculpture,"  said  Anna. 

"  Without  any  anxiety  as  to  whether  her  sculp- 
ture will  pay  or  not,"  added  Ariston. 

"  She  just  has  to  please  herself,"  said  the  Ma- 
ter comfortably. 

"  I  am  dreamingi  "  said  I. 

"No,  you're  not,"  said  the  Mater;  and  she 
pinched  me  till  I  started. 

Everybody  found  this  very  funny — and  so  I 
took  it  as  good-naturedly  as  I  could.  But  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  have  a  little  revenge,  so  I  asked 
the  Mater  quite  loud  as  soon  as  they  had  finished 
laughing: 

58 


Anna  of  Ann 

"  Tell  me,  is  Lydia  the  only  Demetrian 
here?" 

All  looked  shocked  except  Cleon,  who  laughed 
louder  than  ever,  but  Anna  looked  at  him  severely 
and  said: 

"  Cleon,  I'm  surprised." 

I  noticed,  too,  a  smile  curl  Ariston's  lip.  The 
Mater  put  a  warning  finger  to  her  mouth  and 
shook  her  head  reproachfully. 

"  You  see,"  I  said,  with  no  small  satisfaction 
at  the  confusion  I  had  caused,  "  I  am  new  to  all 
these  things;  I  have  to  distinguish  fact  from 
fancy;  the  sacred  from  the  profane." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Ariston,  "  although  we  have 
our  domestic  life  in  the  cities,  apart,  every  family 
having  its  own  separate  home,  even  there  we  jostle 
against  one  another  a  great  deal  more  than  you 
used  in  your  time;  and  here  at  the  colony  we  are 
like  one  large  family;  we  have,  therefore,  to  re- 
spect one  another's  opinions,  and  I  might  add — 
prejudices."  He  bowed  here  at  the  Mater  as 
though  in  deference  to  her  cult  of  Demeter. 
"We  wouldn't  be  happy  otherwise;  and  we  have 
learned  that  after  all,  the  highest  religion  is  the 
highest  happiness.  And  so  each  of  us  respects 
the  religion  of  the  other;  in  our  heart  of  hearts 
we  doubtless  tax  one  another  with  superstition, 

59 


The  Demetrian 

but  we  never  admit  it.     Every  cult,  therefore,  is 
tolerated  and  receives  the  outward  respect  of  all." 

I  could  not  help  wondering  whether  this  was 
true.  Chairo  clearly  regarded  the  cult  of  Deme- 
ter  as  dangerous  and  bad;  how  long  then  would 
he  tolerate  it?  Ariston  divined  my  thought,  for 
he  added: 

"  Of  course,  I  assume  that  the  cult  involves  no 
danger  to  the  state;  or  to  individual  liberty." 

But  the  brows  of  the  women  darkened  and  I 
felt  we  were  on  dangerous  ground,  so  I  asked : 

''  And  what  are  you  going  to  do  this  after- 
noon? " 

''  We  are  going  on  with  our  haymaking." 

"  But  I  thought  you  worked  only  three  or  four 
hours  a  day?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  all  we  owe  the  state ;  but  we 
often  ask  to  work  all  day  for  a  season  in  order  to 
have  the  whole  day  to  ourselves  later.  And  as 
harvesting  must  be  done  within  a  given  space  of 
time,  it  suits  our  economy  as  well  as  our  inclina- 
tion to  work  all  day  at  this  season  and  have  Octo- 
ber to  ourselves.  Most  of  us  go  hunting  all  of 
October,  and  in  November  we  meet  again  at  the 
Eleusinian  festival." 

"Hunting?"  I  asked;  "but  where  do  you 
hunt?" 

60 


Anna  of  Ann 

"  Almost  wherever  we  want,  though,  of  course, 
this  has  to  be  arranged.  Since  your  time  the  state 
has  replanted  forests  on  alf  the  high  ground  least 
suited  to  agriculture,  and  game  is  carefully  pre- 
served there  during  the  whole  year  except  Octo- 
ber; which  is  our  open  season.  Some  hunting  is 
done,  too,  in  November  and  December  to  suit  the 
convenience  of  those  who  have  to  work  in  Octo- 
ber; but  it  is  mostly  done  in  October." 

Lunch  was  by  this  time  over  and  we  adjourned 
to  the  veranda  for  coffee  and  a  cigar.  There  we 
were  joined  by  Chairo  and  others,  and  gradually 
I  began  to  get  some  notion  of  the  working  of  their 
CoUectivist  State.  But  as  their  explanations  left 
me  in  considerable  bewilderment,  and  it  was  only 
when  I  saw  the  system  in  actual  operation  that  I 
understood  it,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  our  conversations,  but  rather  describe 
the  events  that  followed,  not  only  for  the  interest 
of  the  events  themselves,  but  for  the  light  they 
threw  on  the  problems  which  still  remain  un- 
solved for  our  race. 

Lydia's  good-natured  reproach  at  my  idleness 
kindled  in  me  a  desire  to  remove  the  occasion  of 
it,  so  I  set  myself  to  learn  to  mow,  and  in  a  very 
few  days  my  muscles  accustomed  themselves  to  the 
work.     I  soon  picked  up  a  part  in  their  favorite 

6i 


The  Demetrian 

refrains  and  was  able  to  join  in  their  music  as  well 
as  their  occupations.  My  ardor  for  Lydia  cooled 
when  I  felt  its  hopelessness;  and  I  confess  to  an 
admiration  for  Chairo  which  justified  her  love 
for  him.  Neither  of  them  attempted  to  disguise 
their  desire  to  be  alone  with  each  other,  and  yet 
they  never  moved  far  from  the  rest  of  us.  Ob- 
viously, Lydia  had  not  decided  between  Chairo 
and  Demeter. 

The  Pater  told  me  that  she  need  not  decide 
for  another  year,  though  it  was  likely  that  she 
would  do  so  at  the  Eleusinian  festival  in  Novem- 
ber. This  festival,  corresponding  to  our  Thanks- 
giving Day,  was  held  in  honor  of  Demeter  and 
Persephone,  the  genii  of  fruitfulness,  whether  of 
the  earth  or  of  men;  and  it  was  generally  on  some 
such  occasion  that  vows  were  taken  or  missions 
renounced. 


62 


CHAPTER   y 

IRENE 

I  SPENT  the  whole  harvest  season  at  Tyring- 
ham,  and  when  it  was  over  I  went  with 
Chairo  to  New  York  in  order  to  get  some 
ocular  understanding  of  their  factory  system.  It 
was  there  that  I  understood  one  of  the  reasons  that 
made  Lydia  hesitate,  for  I  met  there  another 
woman — a  Demetrian  also — whose  history  had 
been  intimately  interwoven  with  Chairo's. 

Lydia  had  decided,  much  to  Chairo's  disap- 
pointment, that  she  would  spend  October  in  the 
Demetrian  cloister  attached  to  the  temple.  She 
said  she  felt  the  need  of  seclusion.  It  was  one 
of  the  functions  of  the  cloistered  to  attend  the 
daily  rite  at  the  altar,  and  I  often  went  at  the  sa- 
cred hour  to  attend  the  service,  doubtless  drawn 
by  the  desire  to  see  Lydia  engaged  in  her  minis- 
tration. One  afternoon,  as  I  sat  in  the  shadow  of 
a  pillar,  I  was  struck  by  the  singular  majesty  of 
one  of  the  ministrants.    She  headed  the  procession 


The   Demetrian 

of  women  who  carried  the  censers,  and  it  was  she 
who  offered  the  incense  at  the  altar. 

I  was  living  with  Chairo  and  Ariston  in  bach- 
elor quarters  and  described  the  priestess  to  the 
latter  on  my  return  home.  Ariston's  face  flushed 
as  he  answered:  "That  must  be  Irene  of  Tania; 
she  is  a  Demetrian  and  is  the  mother  of  a  boy  by 
Chairo." 

Noticing  that  my  question  had  moved  Ariston 
I  was  unwilling  to  push  my  inquiries;  but  after  a 
few  moments  of  silence  Ariston,  who  after  his 
laconic  answer  had  lowered  his  eyes  to  the  book 
he  was  reading,  looked  up  and  seeing  the  question 
in  my  eyes  that  I  had  refrained  from  putting  into 
words,  added: 

"  Her  story  is  a  sad  one.  She  was  selected  by 
Demeter  not  on  account  of  any  special  gifts,  but 
because  of  her  splendid  combination  of  qualities; 
she  was  a  type;  she  represented  a  standard  it  was 
useful  to  reproduce.  Chairo  for  similar  reasons 
was  selected  as  her  bridegroom;  she  chose  to  know 
him  and  became  deeply  enamored.  How  should 
she  not?  He  remained  devoted  to  her  until  her 
boy  was  weaned  and  then  did  not  renew  his  vows. 
She  bore  his  decision  with  dignity;  indeed,  so  well 
did  she  disguise  her  disappointment  that  for  a 
long  time  no  one  knew  whether  it  was  Chairo  or 

64 


Irene 

herself  who  had  decided  to  separate.  But  when 
Chairo  began  to  show  his  love  for  Lydia,  Irene 
sickened;  there  was  no  apparent  reason  for  it  and 
no  acute  disease;  her  appetite  failed  and  she  lost 
strength  and  color." 

Ariston  paused,  as  though  he  were  going  over 
it  all  in  his  mind,  unwilling  to  give  it  utterance. 
Finally,  he  arose  and  walked  to  the  window,  and 
after  looking  out  a  little,  turned  to  me  and  said: 

"  The  fact  is,  I  was  consumedly  in  love  with 
her  myself;  her  illness  gave  me  an  excuse  for  be- 
ing a  great  deal  with  her,  and  at  last  in  a  moment 
of  folly — for  I  might  have  guessed — I  told  her  of 
my  love.  I  shall  never  forget  her  face  when  I 
did  so:  the  sadness  on  it  deepened;  she  held  out 
her  hand  to  me  and  said:  'I  am  fond  of  you, 
Ariston — and  am  grateful!  But  I  love  Chairo 
and  shall  never  love  anyone  but  him.'  "  Ariston's 
voice  became  hoarse  as  he  repeated  Irene's  words. 
But  he  paused,  cleared  his  throat,  and  went  on. 

"  Since  then  she  has  made  a  great  effort  over 
herself.  She  was  told  that  she  was  allowing  sor- 
row to  unfit  her  for  her  duty  to  her  child,  and  that 
she  was  suffering  from  no  malady  beyond  that 
most  pernicious  ot  all  maladies — the  malady  of 
the  will.  She  collected  herself,  regained  control, 
and  has  now  recovered  her  health — and  all  her 

65 


The   Demetrian 

beauty.  Was  there  ever  beauty  greater  than 
her's?" 

"  She  is  very  beautiful — more  than  beautiful 
— she  filled  me  with  a  kind  of  wonder.  But  tell 
me,  won't  she  object  to  your  having  told  me  her 
secret?  " 

"It  is  not  a  secret;  these  things  are  not  re- 
garded as  secrets ;  we  hold  it  unworthy  to  blab  of 
such  things,  but  we  never  make  an  effort  to  con- 
ceal them.  Often  since  then  Irene  has  spoken  of 
Chairo  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as 
to  her  feelings  for  him;  and  yet  she  has  probably 
never  in  terms  admitted  it  to  anyone  but  me.  In 
confiding  to  you  my  love  for  her,  she  would  not 
complain  at  my  also  confiding  to  you  her  love  for 
him." 

Ariston's  simplicity  filled  my  heart  with  ten- 
derness for  him. 

I  went  to  him,  put  my  hands  on  his  shoulders, 
and  said: 

"  I  am  sorry  for  you." 

For  a  moment  he  seemed  taken  aback  by  this 
expression  of  sympathy;  but  when  our  eyes  met 
his  were  dimmed. .  In  a  moment,  however,  he  had 
recovered  control,  and  said: 

"  It  doesn't  make  any  difference  in  one  way. 
I  see  her  still;  and  one  of  these  days  she  will  be 

66 


Irene 

sorry  for  me  and  become  my  wife;  she  will  then 
end  by  loving  me.  I  mean  to  work  to  this  end; 
the  hope  of  attaining  all  this  gives  me  courage." 

It  seemed  all  the  worse  to  me  that  Ariston, 
with  his  gayety  and  humor,  should  be  in  his  heart 
so  sad.  And  yet,  if  it  was  to  be,  better  that  it 
should  come  to  one  who  had  a  fund  of  joyousness 
within  himself,  on  which  he  could  draw. 

The  next  day  Lydia  sent  word  to  Ariston  that 
she  would  like  to  see  him,  and  Ariston  suggested 
that  I  should  go  with  him  to  the  cloister.  "  I 
shall,  of  course,"  he  said,  "  wish  to  see  Lydia  alone 
for  a  little,  but  you  will  have  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  cloister  and  what  they  do  there." 

The  cloister  of  Demeter  and  all  the  institu- 
tions which  clustered  around  it  were  situated  in 
the  neighborhood  of  what  was  in  my  time  Madi- 
son Square.  All  the  buildings  between  Twen- 
tieth Street  and  Thirty-fourth  Street,  north  and 
south,  and  between  Sixth  Avenue  and  Fourth 
Avenue,  east  and  west,  had  been  cleared  away; 
and  upon  the  cleared  space  had  been  constructed 
a  building  dedicated  to  the  cult.  The  temple  of 
Demeter,  closely  resembling  the  Pantheon,  was 
surrounded  by  a  grove  of  ilex  trees.  At  a  short 
distance  from  the  temple  and  connected  with  it 
by  a  columned  arcade,  was  the  cloister,  built  also 

67 


The  Demetrian 

of  white  marble,  around  a  court  carpeted  with 
lawn;  this  cloister  was  the  dwelling  place  of  the 
priestesses  of  Demeter  and  of  all  those  women 
who  were  either  in  retreat  or  in  novitiate.  A  short 
distance  from  the  cloister  was  a  large  building, 
similar  to  the  other  large  buildings  of  which  New 
York  now  mainly  consisted.  Twenty  stories  in 
height,  covering  acres  of  ground  and  built  around 
a  large  open  court,  these  buildings  were  no  longer 
open  to  the  objection  alleged  against  them  in  my 
time,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  were  now  re- 
moved from  one  another  by  large  spaces  planted 
with  trees.  This  particular  building  was  devoted 
to  the  education  of  youth,  and  particularly  all 
children  who,  for  any  reason,  became  what  was 
termed  "  children  of  the  state."  The  building 
was  so  large  that  it  permitted  of  a  running  track 
within  the  court  of  four  laps  to  the  mile.  New 
York  had  been  transformed  by  the  construction 
of  these  enormous  buildings,  each  one  of  which 
constituted  practically  a  city  of  itself.  Some  of 
them,  such  as  the  one  in  which  I  was  living  with 
Ariston,  were  devoted  exclusively  to  bachelors 
and  childless  widowers;  others  were  entirely  for 
unmarried  women  and  childless  widows;  others, 
on  the  contrary,  were  set  aside  for  the  use  of  fami- 
lies and  consisted  of  apartments  of  different  sizes. 

68 


Irene 

Although  the  inmates  of  these  buildings  con- 
stantly met  after  the  fulfillment  of  their  daily  task, 
every  family  had  as  separate  a  home  as  in  my  day. 
Almost  every  building  had  a  dramatic  corps  of 
its  own,  a  musical  choir  of  its  own,  a  football  club, 
a  tennis  club,  and  other  athletic,  amusement,  and 
educational  clubs  of  its  own,  and  all  these  clubs 
contributed  to  the  amusement  one  of  the  other, 
each  colony  contributing  its  share  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  whole  community. 

Lydia  was  in  the  hospital  ward  of  the  state 
children's  building,  where  at  last  we  found  her, 
for  though  in  retreat  she  was  by  no  means  idle. 
She  was  not  discountenanced  when  she  saw  us; 
nor  would  she  even  allow  me  to  leave  them,  but 
told  Ariston  what  she  had  to  say  simply  and  in  a 
few  words.  It  was  this:  She  had  come  to  the 
cloister,  she  said,  very  largely  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  Irene  there;  she  took  it  for  granted  that 
Irene's  duties  at  the  temple  would  bring  them  to- 
gether. Lydia  feared,  however,  that  Irene  was 
avoiding  her,  and  wanted  Ariston  to  arrange  a 
meeting  between  them. 

Ariston  promised  to  do  this,  and  then  we  all 
three  vv^alked  through  the  buildings,  Lydia  taking 
great  pride  in  her  share  of  the  work  there. 

Ariston  did  not  find  it  easy  to  arrange  this 
69 


The  Demetrian 

meeting.  Irene  freely  confessed  that  she  did  not 
want  to  speak  to  Lydia  at  this  moment;  she  was 
unwilling  to  give  her  reasons,  but  we  both  easily 
guessed  them.  Irene,  however,  did  not  refuse  to 
see  Lydia  and  promised  to  go  to  her  on  the  fol- 
lowing day. 

The  following  day  was  the  first  of  the  Eleu- 
sinian  festival.  In  the  daily  rite,  incense  was  of- 
fered to  the  goddess  as  a  token  of  sacrifice,  but 
at  the  Eleusinian  festival  there  was  added  a  note 
of  thanksgiving  to  the  rite,  which  substituted  per- 
fumes and  flowers  in  lieu  of  incense.  It  was  the 
privilege  of  Irene  to  select  from  among  the  min- 
istrants  the  one  who  was  to  hand  her  the  gifts 
brought  by  the  rest,  and  it  was  from  the  hand  of 
the  chosen  one  that  Irene  took  the  gifts  and  laid 
them  upon  the  altar. 

On  this  opening  day  Irene  selected  Lydia  for 
this  privilege,  for  she  meant  this  joint  ministra- 
tion at  the  altar  to  serve  as  prelude  and  prepara- 
tion for  their  meeting.    The  temple  was  crowded. 

Lydia  trembled  a  little  as  she  followed  Irene 
to  the  altar;  a  priest  stood  on  either  side  as  the 
priestesses,  postulants,  and  novices  of  the  Deme- 
trian procession  went  up  the  steps  to  it.  Arrived 
at  the  foot  of  the  altar  they  formed  a  group  about 
it,  dividing  one-half  on  one  side,  the  other  half 

70 


Irene 

on  the  other;  between  the  altar  and  the  body  of 
the  temple  stood  only  Irene  and  Lydia. 

Lydia  took  the  perfumes  and  handed  them  to 
Irene,  who  sprinkled  them  first  upon  the  altar, 
then  upon  the  priests,  and  then  toward  the  con- 
gregation ;  then  she  took  the  flowers,  some  of  them 
in  vases,  others  in  wreaths,  and  handed  them  to 
Irene,  who  arranged  them  upon  the  altar;  when 
the  last  gift  had  been  taken  there  Irene  kneeled 
and  Lydia  kneeled  by  her  side.  There  was  a  deep 
silence  in  the  temple.  At  this  point  in  the  ritual 
there  was  a  pause,  during  which  it  was  the  privi- 
lege of  the  postulants  and  novices  to  have  a  prayer 
offered  in  case  of  special  anxiety.  Irene,  though 
unsolicited,  at  this  moment  offered  the  following 
prayer: 

"  Mother  of  Fruitfulness,  to  her  who  now  asks 
for  thy  special  grace,  grant  that  she  may  neither 
accept  thy  mission  hastily  nor  reject  it  without 
consideration;  for  thy  glory,  O  Mother,  is  the 
glory  of  all  thy  people." 

There  was  a  word  in  this  prayer  which  did 
not  fail  to  strike  the  attention  of  every  worship- 
per in  the  temple  that  day.  The  words  of  the 
ritual  were  "  Grant  that  she  may  neither  accept 
the  mission  unworthily.''^     Irene  had  substituted 

71 


The  Demetrian 

"  hastily  "  for  the  word  "  unworthily."  She  had 
paused  at  this  word  and  given  it  special  em- 
phasis. It  was  usual  for  the  Demetrian  proces- 
sion to  remain  kneeling  after  the  service  was  over 
and  the  congregation  dismissed;  and  it  happened 
that  the  procession  and  the  priests  left  the  tem- 
ple, leaving  Irene  and  Lydia  alone  there.  For 
Irene  did  not  rise  with  the  other  Demetrians,  and 
Lydia,  feeling  that  she  had  been  chosen  as  min- 
istrant  for  a  purpose,  remained  beside  Irene.  The 
two  knelt  alone  in  the  temple,  Irene  praying  and 
Lydia  waiting  on  her.  At  last  Irene  arose  and 
Lydia  also,  and  they  both  walked  out  into  the 
covered  way. 

Neither  spoke  until  they  were  in  the  seclusion 
of  the  cloistered  court.  Then  Irene  said:  "You 
wanted  to  speak  to  me,  Lydia." 

"  And  you  have  been  avoiding  me,"  said 
Lydia. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Irene.  "  You  have  a  matter 
to  decide  regarding  which  you  have  already 
guessed  I  am  not  altogether  unconcerned." 

Lydia  lowered  her  voice  as  she  said:  "You 
still  love  Chairo?" 

Irene  answered  in  a  voice  still  lower,  but  firm, 
"  I  do." 

For  a  few  minutes  they  paced  the  cloister. 
72 


Irene 

Lydia  was  trying  to  decide  how  to  confess  her 
own  secret,  but  she  did  not  find  the  words.  At 
last  Irene  said: 

"  When  the  mission  of  Demeter  was  first  ten- 
dered to  me  I  was  eighteen,  and,  although  I  had 
often  preferred  certain  of  my  playmates  to  others, 
I  had  not  known  love.  The  honor  of  the  mission 
made  a  great  impression,  and  as  it  slowly  came 
upon  me  that  I  was  chosen  to  make  of  myself  a 
sacrifice,  the  beauty  of  it  filled  my  heart  with  hap- 
piness. It  hardly  occurred  to  me  possible  to  re- 
fuse the  mission;  I  was  absorbed  by  one  single 
desire — to  make  myself  worthy  of  it.  I  thought 
very  little  about  the  sacrifice  itself.  I  had  the 
legend  of  Eros  and  Psyche  in  my  mind;  one  day 
I  should  hear  heavenly  music  and  be  approached 
as  it  were  by  an  unknown  god.  And  passing 
from  the  pagan  to  the  Christian  myth,  I  saw  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  Murillo — that  of  the 
young  maiden  at  the  Prado  in  Madrid — and  I  felt 
lifted  into  the  ecstasy  of  a  mystic  motherhood.  So 
until  I  accepted  the  mission  at  the  Eleusinian  fes- 
tival I  lived  in  a  rapture — the  days  passing  in  the 
studies  and  ministrations  of  our  novitiate,  the 
nights  in  dreamless  sleep.  But  once  the  vows 
taken  and  the  bridal  night  fixed,  there  came  upon 
me  a  revulsion  as  it  were  from  the  outside  and 

73 


The  Demetrian 

took  control  of  my  entire  being  so  as  to  make  me 
understand  what  the  ancients  meant  when  they 
described  certain  persons  as  '  possessed  by  an  evil 
spirit.'  The  thought  of  the  approaching  crisis 
was  a  pure  horror  to  me.  I  lost  my  appetite  and 
sleep ;  or,  if  I  slept,  it  was  to  dream  a  nightmare. 
Neither  our  priest  nor  priestess  could  console  me, 
the  legend  of  Eros  and  Psyche  became  abomin- 
able, the  Immaculate  Conception  absurd,  and,  be- 
lieve me,  Lydia,  nothing  but  pride  kept  me  to  my 
word.  It  was  a  bad  pride,  the  pride  that  could 
not  look  forward  to  the  humiliation  of  refusing  a 
sacrifice  I  had  once  accepted.  That  pride  held 
me  in  a  vice  and  accomplished  what  religion  itself 
would  never  have  accomplished." 

Irene  paused — and  Lydia  passed  her  arm 
around  Irene's  waist  as  they  continued  to  pace  the 
solitary  cloister,  whispering  "  Go  on  "  in  Irene's 
ear. 

"  You  know  the  rest,"  continued  Irene.  "  The 
unknown  god  came  to  me  in  my  terror  and  con- 
verted my  terror  into  love;  and  as  I  look  back  at 
it  now  I  am  struck  by  two  things:  One,  how  un- 
accountable and  unfounded  the  terror  was;  the 
other,  how  little  my  pride  would  have  sufficed  to 
overcome  it  had  the  terror  been  enforced  by  love." 

Lydia  looked  at  Irene  askance. 
74 


Irene 

"  I  mean,"  said  Irene,  "love  for  some  one 
else!" 

A  sigh  broke  from  Lydia.  This  was  what  she 
had  been  waiting  for. 

"  And  you  think,"  said  Lydia,  "  that  a  woman 
should  not  accept  the  mission  if  she  already 
loves?  " 

"  I  don't  think  it;  I  know  it!  " 

Lydia  felt  a  burden  taken  from  her^the  bur- 
den of  doubt  as  well  as  the  burden  of  sacrifice. 
But  suddenly  she  remembered  that  Irene  in  ad- 
vising the  refusal  of  the  mission  was  making  a 
sacrifice  of  her  own  love,  and  she  said  very  low 
in  Irene's  ear: 

"  But,  Irene,  it's  Chairo " 

'^  I  know,"  answered  Irene,  "  and  this  is  all  the 
greater  reason  for  refusing.  Had  you  loved  a 
lesser  man  you  might  have  doubted  the  trueness 
of  your  love,  but  having  loved  Chairo  once  you 
can  never  cease  to  love  him.  I  speak  who  know  " ; 
and  Irene  turned  on  Lydia  a  look  of  immortal 
sorrow. 

But  the  tumult  of  emotion  in  Lydia's  heart 
could  no  longer  be  restrained.  Her  own  great 
love  for  Chairo,  her  inability  to  sacrifice  it,  con- 
trasted with  the  dignity  of  Irene's  renunciation, 
started  a  torrent  of  tears.     She   fell  on   Irene's 

75 


The  Demetrian 

neck  and  sobbed  there.  Irene's  strong  heart  beat 
against  her's  as  they  stood  in  close  embrace  under 
the  cloister,  and  calmed  Lydia.  She  slowly  disen- 
gaged herself,  and  looking  into  Irene's  face,  said: 

"  And  so  you  tell  me  to  refuse  the  mission?  " 

"  You  cannot  do  otherwise." 

Then  Lydia  kissed  Irene  and  withdrew. 

Lydia  went  to  her  chamber  and  sat  in  the  win- 
dow seat,  looking  across  the  lawn  to  the  temple 
of  Demeter. 

What  did  it  all  mean?  She  had  felt  the  beauty 
of  the  mission;  had  glowed  at  the  thought  of  sac- 
rifice; had  taken  pride  in  it.  But  such  was  the 
strength  of  her  love  for  Chairo  that  so  long  as  he 
was  in  her  mind  the  mission  seemed  a  sacrilege 
and  her  heart  had  responded  to  Irene's  advice 
with  a  bound  of  gratitude  and  delight.  And  yet 
now  as  she  looked  at  the  white  columns  of  the 
temple  at  which  she  would  never  again  be  worthy 
to  minister,  an  unutterable  sadness  came  over  her, 
as  though  she  were  parting  from  the  dearest  and 
most  precious  thing  in  her  existence. 

She  was  unwilling  to  mingle  that  night  with 
the  other  novices,  and  retired  without  seeing 
them.  The  night  was  filled  with  conflicting 
dreams  and  she  woke  up  next  morning  with  the 
guilty  conviction  that  she  had  committed  a  crime. 

76 


CHAPTER   VI 

NEAERA 

MEANWHILE  I  was  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  Lydia's  family  and  their 
friends.  They  occupied  a  building  ex- 
tending from  Fifth  Avenue  to  Lenox  Avenue  and 
from  125th  Street  to  130th  Street.  It  had  a  large 
cloistered  court  within  which  was  a  beautiful 
garden,  consisting  of  a  grove  inclosing  a  lawn 
bordered  by  flowers.  It  was  usual  for  the  inmates 
of  the  building  to  meet  for  tea  in  the  grove  on  the 
border  of  the  lawn.  They  divided  themselves  into 
groups,  each  with  his  own  arrangement  of  chairs, 
hammocks,  and  tables,  which  reminded  me  of  some 
of  our  fetes  champetres.  Within  the  grove  were 
openings  for  such  games  as  tennis — of  which  they 
had  an  infinite  variety — and  also  for  stages  on 
which  they  rehearsed  concerts  and  plays.  The 
hours  between  five  and  seven  were  by  common 
consent  surrendered  to  social  amusements.  At 
seven  there  was  an  adjournment  to  the  swimming 

77 


The  Demetrian 

bath  and  gymnasium  with  which  every  building 
was  provided.  Eight  was  the  usual  hour  for  din- 
ner, this  meal  being  usually  reserved  to  the  family; 
and  the  evening  was  spent  very  much  as  with  us, 
either  at  some  theater  or  at  home.  The  dinner 
party  was  a  thing  almost  unknown.  In  the  first 
place,  the  principal  meal,  and  the  only  one  which 
required  much  preparation,  was  in  the  middle  of 
the  day.  The  evening  meal  at  eight  was  never 
more  than  our  high  tea,  the  object  of  this  system 
being  to  lighten  domestic  service.  In  the  second 
place,  the  unmarried,  who  did  not  live  with  their 
families,  generally  dined  together  in  the  common 
hall;  and  if  members  of  a  family  wished  to  dine 
at  the  common  table  they  could  at  any  time  do  so. 
Members  of  different  families  frequently  dined 
at  one  another's  domestic  table  but  upon  terms  of 
intimacy;  the  conventional  dinner  party  had  be- 
come ridiculous,  no  one  having  the  means  or  feel- 
ing the  necessity  to  make  a  display.  The  more 
thrifty  and  the  best  managers,  who  were  skillful 
at  dressing  food  and  chose  to  apply  their  leisure 
to  securing  exquisite  wines,  often  entertained ;  but 
out  of  the  hospitality  that  enjoys  sharing  good 
things  with  others,  rather  than  the  pride  which 
seeks  to  impress  a  neighbor  by  ostentation  of 
wealth. 

78 


Neaera 

I  learned  later  that,  although  the  conditions  I 
have  described  still  prevailed,  the  state  was  pass- 
ing out  of  the  pure  Collectivism  with  which  it 
started;  that  numerous  factories  had  been  started 
by  private  enterprise,  partly  to  supply  things  not 
supplied  by  the  state,  partly  because  of  dissatisfac- 
tion at  state  manufacture.  Although  private  en- 
terprise could  only  count  on  voluntary  labor  dur- 
ing one-half  of  every  day  it  had  already  assumed 
vast  proportions,  had  given  rise  to  considerable 
private  wealth  and  was  modifying  the  social  con- 
ditions that  resulted  from  primitive  Collectivism. 

I  also  perceived  that  although  many  of  the 
problems  of  life,  such  as  pauperism  and  prostitu- 
tion, had  been  solved  by  the  introduction  of  Col- 
lectivism, nevertheless  it  had  not  brought  that 
total  disappearance  of  ill  feeling  which  prophets 
of  Collectivism  had  promised  us  in  my  time.  On 
the  contrary,  I  soon  discovered  that  the  inmates 
of  every  building  were  split  up  into  cliques  as 
devoted  to  gossip  as  in  our  day,  the  only  difference 
being  that  they  were  determined  by  individual 
preference  and  political  divisions  and  not  by  pov- 
erty or  wealth;  perhaps  it  might  be  said,  that  the 
absence  of  the  wealth  standard  raised  the  level 
of  the  social  struggle,  deciding  it  by  personal  ex- 
cellence and  attractiveness,  rather  than  along  con- 

79 


The  Demetrian 

ventional  lines.  Every  man  and  woman  knew 
that  popularity — and  even  political  influence — 
could  be  secured  only  by  these,  and  this  knowl- 
edge checked  many  an  angry  word  and  prompted 
many  an  act  of  kindness.  Chaff,  too,  and  even 
sallies  of  wit  with  a  dash  of  malice  in  them  were 
borne  with  more  good  humor  than  in  our  day;  be- 
cause we  all  of  us  love  to  laugh,  and  generally  the 
more  if  it  is  at  the  expense  of  a  neighbor,  provided 
only  there  be  no  intention  to  wound ;  so  that  those 
who  bore  banter  well  were  as  popular  as  those 
who  best  could  set  it  going. 

And  yet  there  were  some  very  foolish  and 
malicious  people  among  them.  I  remember  a 
foolish  one  particularly.  Aunt  Tiny  they  called 
her.  She  was  an  aunt  of  Lydia  and  Cleon.  Lydia 
First,  as  Lydia's  mother  was  called,  had  married 
twice.  Her  first  husband  had  not  known  how  to 
keep  her  love  and  they  had  separated  after  her 
first  child  was  weaned.  Then  she  had  married  a 
second  time;  her  second  husband  was  an  excellent 
man  but  inferior  to  her;  he  had  not  been  able  to 
impress  his  personality  nor  his  name  upon  the 
family,  and  so  the  children  of  the  second  marriage 
as  well  as  the  child  of  the  first  had  taken  the 
name  of  the  mother.  The  second  husband  had 
died  some  years  before  the  beginning  of  this  story; 

80 


Neaera 

but  a  sister  of  his — Aunt  Tiny — had  remained  at- 
tached to  the  family.  She  was  very  small  and 
plump;  her  hair  was  of  a  sickly  yellow  color  and 
so  thin  on  the  top  of  her  head  that  the  scalp  was 
plainly  visible;  she  wore  a  perpetual  smile  of  self- 
satisfaction  which  expressed  the  essential  feature 
of  her  character;  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  en- 
tertain the  thought  that  she  was  plain  or  unat- 
tractive; her  happiness  depended,  on  the  contrary, 
upon  the  conviction  that  no  one  could  resist  her 
charms  did  she  only  decide  to  exercise  them.  Age 
did  not  dull  this  keen  self-admiration;  on  the 
contrary,  as  the  mirror  told  her  that  lengthening 
teeth  contributed  little  to  an  already  meaningless 
mouth,  or  wrinkles  little  to  browless  eyes,  she  felt 
the  need  of  faith  in  herself  grow  the  more,  and  her 
efforts  by  seductive  glances  to  elicit  from  others 
the  expression  of  regard  so  indispensable  to  her 
happiness  redoubled. 

I  first  saw  her  in  Lydia's  drawing-room.  I 
had  found  it  empty  on  entering,  but  presently 
there  came  into  it  a  little  body  with  a  hand 
stretched  up,  in  her  eagerness  to  be  cordial,  at 
the  level  of  her  head,  and  behind  it  a  smirking 
face  bubbling  over  with  the  effort  of  maidenly 
reserve  to  keep  within  bounds  an  overflowing 
heart. 

8i 


The  Demetrian 

"Welcome  to  New  York!"  she  said.  "I'm 
so  glad  to  see  you!  " 

She  lisped  a  little,  and  as  she  emphasized  the 
word  "  tho  "  she  shook  her  head  in  a  little  con- 
fiding way,  and  the  smirk  deepened  into  a  nervous 
grin. 

I  had  been  so  long  in  New  York  that  I  felt 
her  welcome  a  little  superfluous,  but  it  was  part 
of  the  doctrine,  which  kept  her  happiness  alive, 
that  New  York  had  not  completed  a  welcome  to 
a  stranger  until  it  had  been  expressed  by  her. 

I  was  a  little  confused  by  her  effusiveness,  for 
I  did  not  wish  to  offend  an  aunt  of  Lydia's,  and 
yet  I  felt  it  impossible  to  respond  in  proper  pro- 
portion to  her  advances. 

"  You  must  be  Aunt  Tiny,"  I  said.  "  I  have 
often  heard  of  you." 

I  refrained  from  telling  her  what  I  had  heard; 
how  she  had  constituted  one  of  the  favorite  types 
for  Ariston's  mimicry;  how,  indeed,  Ariston  had 
gone  through  the  very  performance  I  had  just 
witnessed,  in  which  the  uplifted  hand,  the  smirk, 
and  the  lisping  "  tho  "  had  lost  nothing  in  Aris- 
ton's art. 

"Dear  Lydia!"  she  exclaimed;  and  in  the 
pronunciation  of  the  "  d  "  in  "  dear  "  she  put  ex- 
aggerated significance  and  added  a  shake  of  her 

82 


Neaera 

head.  She  wore  little  corkscrew  curls;  every  time 
she  shook  her  head  the  curls  quivered  with  sup- 
pressed agitation. 

"  Do  sit  down,"  she  added — with  unnecessary 
emphasis  in  the  "  do." 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  resign 
myself;  she  drew  up  a  chair  quite  close  to  mine 
and  settled  down  in  it  as  an  army  might  settle 
down  for  a  Trojan  siege. 

"  Do  tell  me — I  am  dying  to  know — how  did 
it  happen  and  what  do  you  think  of  us?  You 
don't  look  very  dif^ferent  from  us ;  you  remind  me 
of  Chairo,  and  he  is  thought  very  handsome  " — 
her  head  and  curls  shook  again  and  she  giggled 
consciously — ^^  very,  very  handsome!"  She  gig- 
gled still  more  and  her  eyes  assumed  a  coy  mean- 
ingfulness  that  increased  my  discomfort. 

I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  why  this 
poor  little  woman — perfectly  innocent  of  any  real 
ability  to  harm — should  have  been  able  to  cause 
me  so  much  annoyance;  but  there  was  something 
in  her  glance  that  made  me  wish  to  throw  things 
at  her. 

"  And  Lydia — isn't  Lydia  beautiful?  "  There 
was  something  caressing  in  her  tone  as  she  puck- 
ered up  her  lips  and  dwelt  on  the  word  "  beauti- 
ful "  that  exasperated  me  again. 

83 


The  Demetrian 

"  What  do  you  suppose  she  is  going  to  do?  Is 
she  going  to  accept  the  mission  or  marry  Chairo? 
She  is  a  great  flirt,  you  know;  quite  a  terrible 
flirt!  But  /  shouldn't  talk  of  flirting!  " — and  she 
giggled  again  the  same  suggestive  giggle.  "  We 
mustn't  be  hard  on  flirts,  must  we?  " 

This  appeal  to  me,  as  though  I  were  already 
particeps  criminis,  would  have  led  me  to  protest, 
but  she  did  not  allow  me  the  opportunity,  for  she 
continued: 

''  But  she  has  not  been  fair  to  Chairo;  a  girl 
ought  to  know  when  to  make  up  her  mind  " — she 
became  very  serious  now — "  /  always  knew  where 
to  stop;  no  man  ever  had  the  right  to  reproach 
me:' 

I  at  last  could  agree  with  her  and  I  smiled 
approval.     She  seemed  delighted. 

"  I  am  sure  we  are  going  to  be  great  friends, 
and  you  will  never  misunderstand  me,  will  you?  " 

I  protested  that  I  never  would,  and  was  re- 
lieved by  the  entrance  of  Lydia  First,  who  sug- 
gested our  going  to  tea  in  the  grove. 

On  our  way  there  as  we  passed  the  main  en- 
trance a  detachment  of  militia — some  dozen  or  so 
— entered,  divided  into  two  columns,  and  stood  at 
arms  while  between  them  passed  a  woman  some- 
what more  heavily  draped  than  usual.     I  asked 

84 


Neaera 

the  meaning  of  this,  and  was  told  that  she  was  a 
Demetrian. 

"  But  why  the  military  escort?  "  asked  I. 

"  Demetrians  are  always  attended  by  an  es- 
cort unless  they  particularly  desire  to  be  spared 
the  honor;  many  would  avoid  it  but  the  cult  dis- 
penses with  it  only  as  a  special  favor  and  for  a 
limited  time." 

'*  I  cannot  see  the  use  of  it,"  lisped  Aunt  Tiny. 

But  Lydia  First  looked  sadly  at  her,  and  turn- 
ing to  me,  said : 

"  All  of  us  do  not  understand  the  importance 
of  upholding  the  dignity  of  the  cult.  It  is  the 
very  key-stone  of  social  order  and  we  cannot  pay 
too  much  honor  to  those  by  whose  sacrifice  it  is 
preserved." 

We  were  joined  at  the  grove  by  quite  a  party; 
Ariston  came  later;  and  among  others  I  remarked 
a  young  girl  with  bright  black  eyes  who  was  de- 
scribed to  me  as  a  journalist.  It  took  me  some 
time  to  become  accustomed  to  their  habit  of  de- 
scribing a  person's  occupation  as  that  adopted  for 
recreation.  The  work  they  did  for  the  state  was 
not  regarded  as  a  matter  of  particular  concern;  it 
was  the  w^ork  they  selected  for  their  leisure  hours 
which  marked  their  character  and  bent.  Neaera 
had  been  first  attached  to  the  official  journal  of 

^5 


The  Demetrian 

the  state;  but  she  had  joined  Chairo's  political 
party  and  her  work  on  the  journal  betrayed  her 
partisanship,  so  the  state  assigned  her  work  in  a 
factory,  and  she  devoted  her  leisure  therefore  to 
the  paper  edited  by  Chalro. 

As  leader  of  the  opposition  Chairo  was,  by 
an  established  tradition,  relieved  of  all  work  for 
the  state.  Every  political  party  representing  a 
designated  proportion  of  the  voters  of  the  state 
could  elect  a  certain  number  of  representatives 
upon  the  plan  of  minority  representation,  and  the 
leaders  of  the  opposition  were  by  virtue  of  such 
election  released  from  working  for  the  state.  No 
law  had  enacted  this,  but  it  had  become  the  rule 
by  the  operation  of  the  principle  of  noblesse  ob- 
lige. The  representatives  who  neither  belonged 
to  the  ministry  nor  were  recognized  as  leaders  of 
the  opposition  did  not  enjoy  this  privilege,  except 
during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature.  But  it  was 
recognized  that  the  minority  parties  in  opposition 
had  as  much  work  to  do  as  the  party  in  power,  and 
public  opinion  approved  the  plan  which  gave  to 
the  recognized  leaders  of  these  parties  the  great- 
est opportunit)'"  possible  for  exercising  vigilance. 
The  number  of  these  leaders  being  small,  there 
was  no  fear  that  the  plan  would  give  rise  to  idle- 
ness on  a  scale  to  be  feared,  and  the  temptation  of 

86 


Neaera 

the  government  to  annoy  leaders  of  the  opposition 
by  the  allotment  to  them  of  onerous  tasks,  or  that 
of  ascribing  such  motives  to  the  government,  was 
thereby  eliminated. 

So  Chairo  had  his  whole  time  free  for  the  or- 
ganization of  his  so-called  Radical  party,  and  he 
published,  with  the  assistance  of  his  supporters,  a 
paper  entitled  Liberty^  to  which  Neaera  devoted 
all  her  spare  time.  She  was  uncommonly  pretty, 
but  like  all  these  women,  was  capable  of  sudden 
changes  of  face  and  manner  which,  until  I  became 
accustomed  to  it,  constantly  surprised  me;  though, 
indeed,  I  remember  having  noticed  it  in  some  of 
the  women  of  my  own  day  whom  we  described 
then  as  "  advanced."  Neaera  was  already  seated 
at  a  small  tea  table  with  a  young  man  called  Bal- 
bus,  also  a  member  of  the  Liberty  staff,  when  we 
arrived  and  was  engaged  in  earnest  conversation 
with  him.  She  looked  at  me  scrutinizingly  when 
I  was  presented  to  her,  neither  rising  nor  offering 
me  her  hand,  and  acknowledged  the  presentation 
only  by  a  little  conventional  smile.  There  was 
something  that  seemed  to  me  ill-bred  in  her  keep- 
ing her  seat  when  Lydia  First  and  the  rest  of  us 
arrived;  but  I  soon  discovered  that  Neaera  was 
a  person  of  no  small  importance,  and  expected 
attention  from  others  which  she  did  not  herself 

87 


The  Demetrian        ^ 

concede.  Our  party  seated  itself  about  an  ad- 
joining table  and  presently  Neaera  called  to 
me: 

"  Xenos,  are  you  going  to  lecture  at  our 
hall?" 

I  had  been  invited  by  the  Pater  to  lecture  on 
the  social,  political,  and  economic  conditions  of 
the  twentieth  century.  He  had  assumed  that  such 
a  lecture  would  tend  to  strengthen  the  conserva- 
tive and  coUectivist  government;  and  Chairo  had 
asked  me  to  lecture  at  his  hall  in  the  hope,  on  the 
contrary,  that  it  could  be  made  to  serve  his  own 
cause.  I  had  been  told  that  these  lectures  were 
usually  followed  by  an  open  discussion,  and  I 
knew  that  it  was  from  this  discussion  that  both 
parties  hoped  to  draw  arguments  to  sustain  their 
views  respectively.  Fearing,  therefore,  to  be- 
come involved  in  their  political  animosities  I  had 
not  yet  decided  whether  I  would  lecture  or  not, 
so  I  answered: 

"  I  am  not  sure;  I  feel  a  little  the  need  of  un- 
derstanding your  own  conditions  better  than  I  do, 
before  undertaking  to  contrast  them  with  those  of 
our  day." 

"  We'll  undertake  to  explain  our  conditions," 
she  said,  with  an  oblique  smile  at  Balbus,  "  if 
you'll  let  us." 


Neaera 

"  I  could  wish  for  no  pleasanter  instruction," 
I  answered. 

"  But  I  see  you  have  Aunt  Tiny,"  retorted  she 
maliciously. 

"  Oh,  I  haven't  taken  him  in  hand  yet,"  said 
Aunt  Tiny,  taking  the  suggestion  au  grand  seri- 
eux,  "  but,"  she  added  encouragingly,  "  I  will!  I 
will!" 

Balbus  threw  his  head  back  and  laughed  out- 
rageously. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at,  you  goose!  "  said 
Neaera. 

"  Let  him  laugh  and  enjoy  himself,"  answered 
Aunt  Tiny  quickly,  by  way  of  discarding  the 
thought  that  there  could  be  in  his  laughter  any- 
thing disobliging  for  herself. 

And  Balbus,  taking  the  cue,  said: 

*'  We  don't  want  Aunt  Tiny  to  take  you  in 
hand  for  she  is  terribly  persuasive  " — the  poor 
little  thing  giggled  delightedly — "  and  we  want 
you  on  our  side." 

"  I  don't  mean  to  be  on  either  side,"  I  an- 
swered. "  I  am  your  guest,  and,  as  such,  must 
confine  myself  to  stating  facts;  you  will  have  to 
draw  your  own  conclusions." 

"  That's  right,"  said  Neaera.  "  All  we  want 
are  facts;  the  conclusion  will  be  clear  enough. 

89 


The  Demetrian 

For   example,   in   your   time,   every   man   could 
choose  his  own  occupation." 

"  Undoubtedly,"  answered  I. 

"  And  was  not  subjected  to  the  humiliation  of 
working  in  a  factory  because  he  would  not  be 
convenient  to  the  party  in  control !  "  flashed  out 
Neaera. 

I  nodded  my  head  gravely  in  approval. 

"  Imagine  any  of  the  writers  of  your  day  com- 
pelled to  work  in  a  factory — Emerson,  Browning, 
Longfellow! — and  Tennyson — imagine  Tennyson 
working  in  a  factory!  " 

"Abominable!"  responded  Balbus.  "Abom- 
inable and  absurd! " 

"  Wasn't  Burns  a  plough-boy?  "  said  Ariston, 
"  And  Shakespeare  a  play-actor?  " 

"  A  second-rate  play-actor,  too,"  echoed  Lydia 
First,  "  and  ended  by  lending  money  at  usurious 
interest! " 

"  He  chose  to  be  that,"  retorted  Balbus. 
"  What  we  are  fighting  for  is  the  right  to  choose 
our  calling." 

"But  haven't  you  chosen  yours?"  asked  I. 
"  Isn't  journalism  of  your  choosing?  " 

"  But  I  have  to  work  at  the  state  factory  at 
the  bidding  of  the  state,"  answered  Balbus,  "  for 
half  of  every  day." 

90 


Neaera 

I  could  not  help  comparing  his  lot  with  my 
own  in  Boston.  I  had  never  enjoyed  the  practice 
of  law;  indeed,  I  had  adopted  the  profession  be- 
cause my  father  had  a  practice  to  hand  down  to 
me.  And  as  I  sat  day  after  day  listening  to  the 
often  fancied  grievances  of  my  clients,  their  petty 
ambitions,  narrow  animosities,  and,  particularly 
in  divorce  cases,  to  the  nasty  disputes  of  their 
domestic  life,  I  often  felt  as  though  my  profession 
converted  me  into  a  sort  of  moral  sewer  into 
which  every  client  poured  his  contribution.  Had 
I  really  been  free  when  I  chose  to  devote  my 
whole  life  to  so  pitiful  a  business! 

"  Some  part  of  the  day,"  I  answered,  thinking 
aloud,  "  must,  I  suppose,  be  devoted  to  the  secur- 
ing of  food  and  clothing.  In  the  savage  state — 
in  which  some  people  contend  liberty  is  most 
complete — the  whole  day  is  practically  devoted 
to  it.  In  our  state  it  was  much  the  same,  except 
that  a  few  were  exempt  because  they  made  the 
many  work  for  them.  But  only  a  very  few  en- 
joyed the  privilege  of  idleness — or  shall  we  call  it 
'  liberty '  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Neaera,  "  it  Is  quite  unneces- 
sary to  confuse  things;  liberty  is  one  thing  and 
idleness  is  another.  We  want  the  liberty  to  choose 
our  work — not  the  license  to  refuse  it." 

91 


The  Demetrian 

''  Liberty,  then,"  said  Ariston,  "  is  our  license; 
and  license  is  other  people's  liberty!  " 

"  Ingenious,"  retorted  Neaera,  "  but  not  cor- 
rect. Can't  you  see  the  difference  between  choos- 
ing work  and  refusing  it?  " 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Ariston.  "  The  work 
I  should  choose  would  be  lying  on  my  back  and 
'  thinking  delicate  thoughts,'  like  Hecate.  The 
work  I  should  refuse  would  be  factory  work,  like 

JOM."  • 

Neaera  did  not  like  to  find  herself  without  an 
answer;  so  she  covered  her  defeat  by  taking  a 
flower  out  of  her  bosom  and  throwing  it  at  Aris- 
ton, who,  picking  it  up,  kissed  it  and  fastened  it 
to  a  fold  of  his  chiton.  Just  then  a  strain,  that 
reminded  me  of  our  negro  melodies,  being  wafted 
to  us  through  the  trees,  Balbus  exclaimed,  "  Now, 
Neaera,  a  dance! " 

She  sprang  up  at  once  and  began  moving 
rhythmically  to  the  music.  It  was  a  strange  and 
beautiful  dffnce,  that  had  in  it  some  of  the  quaint 
movement  of  a  negro  breakdown,  and  yet  the 
gayety  and  grace  of  a  Lydian  measure. 

Balbus  clapped  his  hands  to  accentuate  the 
broken  time,  and  we  all  joined  him;  Neaera,  stim- 
ulated by  a  murmur  of  applause,  gave  a  signifi- 
cance to  her  movements;  danced  up  to  Ariston, 

92 


Neaera 

then  flinging  her  hands  out  at  him  in  mock  aver- 
sion, danced  away  again;  next  reversing  her  step 
danced  back  to  him,  and,  snatching  the  flower  out 
of  his  chiton,  tripped  triumphantly  off,  throwing 
her  head  up  in  elation;  and  to  increase  Ariston's 
spite  she  made  as  though  she  would  give  it  to 
Balbus;  but  upon  his  holding  out  his  hand  for  it, 
danced  away  from  him,  and  after  raising  hopes  in 
others  of  our  group  by  tentative  movements  in  one 
direction  and  another,  finally  fixed  her  bright  eyes 
on  me,  danced  hither  and  thither  as  though  un- 
certain, and  then  finally  brought  it  to  me,  and 
daintily  pressing  it  to  her  lips,  put  it  with  both 
hands  and  a  pretty  air  of  resolution  into  mine. 


93 


CHAPTER   VII 

A  TRAGIC  DENOUEMENT 

LYDIA  could  not  disembarrass  herself  of 
the  feeling  of  guilt  with  which  she  awoke 
after  her  interview  with  Irene.  She  went 
to  the  temple  for  help  and  knelt  before  the  story 
of  Demeter's  sorrows,  which  was  told  in  sweeping 
frescoes  on  its  walls.  Chance  so  happened  that 
she  found  herself  before  that  part  of  the  story 
which  described  the  goddess  forgetting  her  own 
sorrow  in  her  devotion  to  the  sick  child  of  the 
woodman  in  his  hut.  The  artist,  in  the  reaction 
from  the  Greek  method  of  treating  this  story 
which  marked  the  narrative  of  Ovid  as  contrasted 
with  that  of  Homer,  had  dwelt  upon  the  humble 
conditions  of  the  poor  hut  in  which  the  light  of 
Demeter's  golden  hair  shone  like  a  beneficent 
aureole;  and  the  nascent  maternal  instinct  in 
Lydia  vibrated  to  the  beauty  of  Demeter's  task. 
Was  she  to  renounce  this  highest  standard  of 
maternity?     What  though  she  did  love  Chairo, 

94 


A  Tragic  Denouement 

was  it  not  this  very  love  which  the  goddess  bade 
her  renounce?  And  was  not  the  greater  the  love 
the  nobler  the  sacrifice? 

She  returned  to  the  cloister  weary  with  the 
struggle  and  strove  to  forget  it  by  devoting  her- 
self to  the  duties  of  the  hospital.  As  she  cared 
for  a  sick  child  there,  the  fresco  in  the  temple  be- 
fore which  she  had  that  morning  kneeled  came 
back  to  her,  and  in  the  memory  of  that  hour  and 
in  the  love  that  went  out  to  the  child  she  was 
nursing  she  found  consolation. 

But  perhaps  she  was  most  influenced  by  a  cer- 
tain capacity  for  passive  resistance  in  her,  which 
unconsciously  set  her  upon  opposing  the  inclina- 
tion to  yield,  whether  to  her  love  for  Chairo  or  to 
the  pleading  of  the  priest.  She  could  refuse  to 
yield  to  both  more  easily  than  decide  to  yield  to 
either.  And  so,  many  days  passed  in  the  valley 
of  indecision  before  she  was  lifted  out  of  it  by  an 
unexpected  event. 

A  novice  came  to  her  one  morning  and  bade 
her  go  to  Irene,  who  had  asked  for  her.  She 
had  not  seen  Irene  since  the  day  they  had  spoken 
in  the  cloister  and  she  had  wondered;  but  some- 
thing in  her  had  secretly  been  satisfied.  Irene 
would  have  challenged  her  to  decide,  and  this  was 
just  what  she  was  not  prepared  to  do. 

95 


The  Demetrian 

As  she  followed  the  novice  to  Irene's  rooms 
the  novice  had  told  her  that  Irene  was  very  ill  and 
had  moaned  all  night,  begging  for  Lydia.  In- 
quiry elicited  that  Irene  was  threatened  and  per- 
haps was  actually  suffering  from  congestion  of 
the  brain,  and  that  she  had  been  confined  to  her 
rooms  ever  since  she  had  ministered  with  Lydia 
in  the  temple.  When  Lydia  approached  Irene's 
rooms  a  nurse  stopped  her  by  saying  that  Irene 
had  just  fallen  into  a  sleep — the  first  for  a  fort- 
night— and  must  not  be  awakened.  So  Lydia  re- 
mained in  the  sitting  room,  peeping  occasionally 
through  the  curtain  that  separated  it  from  the 
room  in  which  Irene  slept.  For  many  hours 
Irene  remained  motionless,  but  at  last  as  Lydia 
stood  holding  aside  the  curtain,  Irene  opened  her 
eyes;  her  face  was  flushed;  she  sprang  up  in  her 
bed,  leaning  on  one  hand,  and  glared  at  Lydia 
with  eyes  that  lacked  discourse  of  reason.  Then, 
suddenly,  she  seemed  to  recognize  her  and  a 
shriek  rent  the  room  and  sent  Lydia  staggering 
back  against  the  nurse  who  stood  behind  her. 
Putting  both  her  hands  over  her  eyes  and  ears 
Lydia  dropped  the  curtain  between  herself  and 
the  raving  Irene;  but  no  hand  could  keep  her 
from  hearing  the  words  that  came  through  the 
curtain  and  pierced  her  brain: 

96 


A  Tragic   Denouement 

"Go  away!  Go  away!  "  shrieked  Irene.  "You 
have  taken  him  from  me!    Stolen  him!  " 

Irene's  shriek  sounded  to  Lydia  like  the  crack 
of  doom.  Then  came  the  words,  "  Stolen  him," 
in  the  voice  of  the  accusing  angel — and  as  if  it 
were  in  answer  to  her  own  shrinking  gesture  of 
protest  behind  the  curtain,  she  heard  Irene  shriek- 
ingly  repeat:  "Stolen,  yes,  stolen!" 

The  nurse  put  Lydia  into  a  chair  and  went  to 
Irene;  she  found  her  risen  from  the  bed,  and, 
shrouded  in  her  curtain  of  blue-black  hair,  with 
lunatic  eyes,  she  was  advancing  slowly  to  the  room 
where  Lydia  sat.  When  Irene  saw  the  nurse 
she  said,  in  low  grave  accents,  "  Not  you — not 
you!"  and  then  with  menacing  significance  added, 
almost  in  a  whisper,  "  The  other!  " 

The  nurse  tried  to  stop  her  and  urge  her  back 
to  her  bed,  but  Irene  swept  her  away  with  a  single 
movement  of  her  arm,  and  moved  to  the  curtain 
which  separated  her  from  Lydia.  But  Lydia  had 
by  this  time  recovered  control  of  herself;  she  knew 
that  a  maniac  was  approaching  and  she  arose  to 
await  her.  Irene  pushed  aside  the  curtain  and  con- 
fronted Lydia  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
motionless  and  rigid  as  though  changed  to  stone. 

"Don't  stand  there,  brazen-faced!"  shrieked 
Irene.    "Kneel — I  say,  kneel!" 

97 


The  Demetrian 

But  Lydia  stood  her  ground  unflinchingly. 

Then  Irene  burst  into  a  furious  laugh:  "  Great 
mother,"  she  began  mockingly,  and  Lydia  had  to 
stand  and  listen  while  the  maniac,  with  lurid  eyes 
and  frantic  gesture,  recited  the  most  sacred  of  the 
prayers  to  Demeter — the  prayer  in  which  daily 
the  vestal  repeats  her  vows ;  but  as  the  prayer  came 
to  a  close  the  light  went  out  of  Irene's  eyes,  the 
fury  out  of  her  gesture;  she  slowly  bent  down 
upon  her  knees,  and  the  last  words  of  the  prayer 
were,  in  a  voice  sinking  to  a  whisper,  addressed 
to  Lydia  as  though  she  had  been  the  goddess  her- 
self. 

When  Irene's  voice  died  away  it  seemed  as 
though  the  paroxysm  was  over;  she  remained 
kneeling,  with  her  head  bowed  upon  her  breast. 

Then  Lydia  thought  to  lift  her  up,  and  bent 
down  to  her.  Irene  looked  up  suddenly  and 
shrieked  as  she  recognized  Lydia;  she  frantically 
waved  her  hands  before  her  face  as  though  to  rid 
her  eyes  of  the  spectacle,  and  Lydia  resumed  her 
erect  posture  again. 

By  this  time  the  nurse  had  returned  to  the 
room  and  tried  to  lead  Irene  away.  At  first  she 
succeeded,  but  suddenly  Irene  swept  her  away, 
and  confronted  Lydia  again: 

"  It  hurts  here,"  she  said,  clutching  at  her 
98 


A  Tragic  Denouement 

heart.  "  You'll  know,"  she  added,  and  laughed 
harshly.  "You'll  know!"  she  repeated,  and 
throwing  up  her  hands  she  clutched  the  air;  then 
in  an  agony  of  paroxysm  she  whispered  again  in 
a  faltering  voice,  "  You'll  know  " — and  suddenly 
sank  a  huddled  heap  upon  the  floor. 

Lydia  and  the  nurse  ran  to  her  and  lifted 
her  back  upon  the  bed,  and  from  that  moment 
Lydia  did  not  leave  her  side.  For  many  days  life 
hovered  on  the  edge  of  Irene's  lips,  sometimes 
appearing  to  take  flight  altogether,  and  again  re- 
turning to  reanimate  the  clay.  And  Lydia  with 
anguish  in  her  heart  bent  over  her  night  and  day. 

At  last  a  crisis  came  and  Irene  fell  into  a  pro- 
found and  restful  sleep;  the  fever  left  her,  and  the 
pulse  slowly  recovered  regularity  and  strength; 
she  seemed  to  recognize  no  one,  and  it  was  ex- 
pected that  for  some  weeks  she  would  probably  re- 
main unaware  of  those  around  her.  Lydia  was 
advised  to  absent  herself,  lest  to  Irene,  on  recover- 
ing her  reason,  the  shock  of  seeing  Lydia  prove 
dangerous;  and  so,  one  evening  as  the  sun  set,  her 
strength  shattered,  she  returned  to  her  own  rooms. 

It  happened  that  the  following  day  was  the 
ninth  of  the  Eleusinian  festival,  on  which,  if  at 
all,  those  to  whom  the  mission  had  been  tendered 
might  accept  or  renounce  it.    Strange  to  say,  with 

99 


The  Demetrian 

her  waning  strength  ebbed  also  the  power  of  pas- 
sive resistance  which  had  kept  Lydia  from  deci- 
sion; she  surrendered  not  to  the  exercise  of  a  con- 
trolling will  but  to  the  suggesting  influence  of 
Irene's  anguish;  and  on  the  next  day  in  the  tem- 
ple, to  the  rage  of  some  and  to  the  deep  concern  of 
all,  in  the  procession  she  wore  the  yellow  veil 
which  announced  her  as  a  bride  of  Demeter. 


100 


CHAPTER   VIII 

HOW  THE  CULT  WAS  FOUNDED 

BEFORE  the  dramatic  climax  of  the  Eleu- 
sinian  festival,  the  first  incident  of  which 
closed  the  last  chapter,  and  the  thrilling 
sequel  of  which  I  shall  have  later  to  narrate,  I 
had  become,  in  spite  of  myself,  dragged  deeper 
into  the  political  arena  than  I  wished. 

In  the  first  place  I  had  not  remained  an  un- 
moved spectator  of  Neaera's  dance.  It  was  very 
new  to  me  and  altogether  bewitching.  She  had  a 
faultless  figure — or,  if  it  had  a  fault,  what  it 
took  away  from  the  type  of  ideal  beauty  it  per- 
haps added  to  her  feminine  attractiveness.  And 
so,  on  returning  with  Ariston  to  our  bachelor 
quarters  she  was  the  theme  of  our  conversation. 
Ariston  had  passed  through  a  phase  of  tendresse 
for  Neaera.  Most  of  his  generation  who  were 
of  Neaera's  class  had  experienced  her  novitiate. 
Even  Chairo  had  not  returned  unscathed.  We 
found  him  at  the  bath,  and  after  a  plunge  into  the 

lOI 


The  Demetrian 

bracing  sea  water  we  lounged  in  our  wraps  on 
the  couches  prepared  for  that  delightful  moment. 

Chairo  declined  to  take  Neaera  seriously:  "  *  II 
y  des  gens,'  "  he  said,  "  '  qui  sont  le  luxe  de  la 
race.'  She  is  a  sprite  created  to  awake  sentiments 
which  must  be  satisfied  by  others;  or,  perhaps, 
remain  unsatisfied,  and  thus  stimulate  the  brush 
of  the  painter  and  the  pen  of  the  poet.  She  is  an 
artist  herself;  utterly  without  conscience  or  heart; 
but  contributing  greatly  to  the  charm  of  life,  and 
if  not  taken  in  too  heavy  doses,  altogether  de- 
lightful." 

Ariston  was  more  severe!  "  She  is  a  calculat- 
ing little  minx  with  her  own  ends  to  serve;  some- 
times those  ends  are  good  and  she  secures  a  large 
following  by  virtue  of  them;  sometimes  they  are 
altogether  bad,  and  then  she  uses  the  following  se- 
cured by  her  good  ends  to  attain  the  bad.  But 
the  worst  of  it  is,  she  uses  what  she  has  of  charm 
remorselessly  and  has  more  than  once  been  sum- 
moned before  the  priests  of  Demeter." 

"  That  is  no  discredit,"  retorted  Chairo.  "  The 
whole  band  of  priests  ought  to  be  consigned  to  the 
shades.    They  are  an  unmitigated  curse " 

It  was  no  easy  matter  to  understand  the  work- 
ing of  the  priestly  system  but  I  gathered  this  from 
the  discussion:  According  to  Ariston,  the  cult  of 

102 


How  the  Cult  was   Founded 

Demeter  was  organized  mainly  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  women  to  accomplish  a  reform  in 
the  marriage  system  and  an  intelligent,  scientific, 
and  religious  regulation  of  all  sexual  relations. 
The  evils  to  be  remedied  were  threefold:  To  rec- 
oncile continence  with  love;  to  retain  the  sanctity 
of  marriage  without  imposing  a  life  penalty  for 
a  single  innocent  mistake;  and  to  secure,  without 
compulsion,  the  improvement  of  the  race. 

In  regard  to  the  first  of  these  three,  it  was 
recognized  that  no  one  function  in  the  human 
body  contributed  so  much  to  the  health  or  malady 
of  the  race  as  this;  and  that  free  love,  which  had 
constituted  one  of  the  planks  of  the  Socialist  party, 
would  be  fatal  to  the  survival  of  the  community, 
in  consequence  of  the  physical  and  moral  abuses 
to  which  incontinence  would  give  rise.  The  sur- 
vival of  the  races  which  practised  continence  over 
those  which  did  not  practise  it  was  too  clearly 
recorded  in  history  for  its  lesson  to  be  neglected. 
Thus,  the  promiscuous  savage  disappears  before 
the  savage  who  exercises  the  continence,  however 
slight,  involved  in  metronymic  institutions;  these 
last  disappear  before  the  races  which  exercise  the 
higher  degree  of  continence  required  by  the  patri- 
archal or  polygamous  system;  and  these  last  suc- 
cumb in  the  conflict  with  those  which  practise  the 

103 


The  Demetrian 

highest  degree  of  continence,  known  in  our  day 
under  the  name  of  monogamy.  The  lesson  of  his- 
tory, then,  is  that  continence  is  essential  to  the 
progress  of  the  race.  The  problem  consists  in  de- 
fining continence. 

This  could  not  be  done  by  written  laws;  the 
attempt  to  regulate  sexual  relations  by  law  had 
broken  down  in  my  own  day.  Divorce  was  the 
attempt  of  morality  to  rescue  marriage  from 
promiscuousness.  The  greatest  immorality  pre- 
vailed where  divorce  was  forbidden;  in  other 
words,  the  institution  of  marriage  became  a  screen 
for  immorality;  women  took  the  vow  of  marriage 
only  the  easier  to  break  it,  and  even  those  who 
took  it  with  the  sincere  intention  of  being  faithful 
to  it,  once  the  bond  proved  intolerable,  finding  no 
moral  escape  from  it  adopted  the  only  immoral 
alternative.  Divorce,  therefore,  was  the  only 
escape;  and  the  easier  divorce  became  the  more 
did  the  sanctity  of  marriage  diminish;  so  that  at 
last  it  became  impossible  to  decide  which  system 
resulted  in  more  demoralization — the  one  which 
maintaining  a  theoretically  indissoluble  marriage 
resulted  in  secret  promiscuousness,  or  the  one 
which  through  divorce  by  making  marriage  easily 
dissoluble  opened  the  door  wide  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  every  caprice. 

104 


How  the  Cult  was   Founded 

The  only  force  that  has  ever  seemed  able  to 
cope  with  this  problem  is  religion.  Religion  for 
centuries  filled  convents  and  monasteries  with 
men  and  women  who  under  a  mistaken  morality 
offered  love  as  a  sacrifice  to  God;  religion  has 
been  the  determining  factor  in  the  survival  of 
community  life;  that  is  to  say,  those  communities 
which  were  animated  by  religion — such  as  Shak- 
ers, and  the  conventual  orders — have  relatively 
prospered,  whereas  those  which  were  not  ani- 
mated by  religion  have  rapidly  disappeared.  Re- 
ligion effectually  preserves  the  chastity  of  women, 
even  outside  of  convents — as  in  Ireland — and  has 
been  the  main  prop  of  such  continence  as  sur- 
vived during  our  time  in  the  institution  of  mar- 
riage. Religion,  then,  seemed  to  be  the  only 
human  sentiment  that  could  determine  continence, 
and  to  some  religious  institution,  therefore,  it  was 
thought  this  question  must  be  referred. 

What  actually  happened  was  this:  The  consti- 
tutional convention,  which  put  an  end  to  the  old 
order  of  things  and  brought  in  the  new,  was  con- 
trolled by  the  Socialist  faction  which  believed  in 
free  love;  a  provision,  therefore,  was  inserted  in 
the  constitution  forbidding  all  laws  on  the  sub- 
ject of  marriage.  The  same  constitution,  how- 
ever,  provided   that  all   adults   over  the   age   of 

105 


The  Demetrian 

twenty-five  years  who  had  passed  the  necessary  ex- 
aminations— female  as  well  as  male — should  have 
a  vote;  and  this  last  gave  women  a  voice  in  politi- 
cal matters,  which  they  soon  exercised  with  un- 
expected solidarity.  They  became  a  power  in  the 
state,  and  threatened  a  modification  of  the  consti- 
tution on  the  subject  of  marriage,  which  would 
not  only  restore  it  to  its  original  inflexibility,  but 
would  impose  penalties  on  both  sexes  for  violation 
of  the  marriage  vow,  such  as  the  world  had  not 
up  to  that  time  seen  or  dreamed  of.  The  whole 
community  was  aghast  at  the  conflict  between  the 
sexes  to  which  this  question  gave  rise,  and  all  the 
more  so,  that  women  had  become  a  fighting  power 
that  could  no  longer  be  disregarded.  The  drill 
introduced  into  the  schools  for  both  sexes  had 
demonstrated  that  in  marksmanship  the  average 
woman  was  quite  equal  to  the  average  man,  and 
in  ability  to  endure  pain  she  proved  altogether  su- 
perior to  him.  Already  the  licentiousness  that 
prevailed  in  Louisiana  and  the  adjacent  States  be- 
tween Louisiana  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  had 
given  rise  to  a  civil  war;  and  the  women  of  the 
North  had  fought  on  the  side  of  sexual  morality 
in  a  manner  that  opened  the  eyes  of  men  to  the 
existence  of  a  new  and  formidable  power  in  the 
state.    The  issue  upon  which  Louisiana  had  under- 

io6 


How  the  Cult  was  Founded 

taken  to  secede  was  upon  the  power  of  the  federal 
Government  to  enact  penal  laws  against  idleness. 
Obviously,  idleness  is,  under  a  CoUectivist  gov- 
ernment, a  most  dangerous  offence.  Collectivism 
cannot  survive  except  upon  the  theory  that  all  the 
members  of  the  community  furnish  their  quota  of 
work.  It  was  supposed  that  this  question  could 
be  left  to  state  legislation;  and  during  a  few 
generations  every  state  did  secure  enough  work 
from  its  citizens  to  furnish  the  stipulated  amount 
of  produce  to  the  common  store.  But  as  disso- 
luteness prevailed  in  the  South,  the  Southern 
States  fell  more  and  more  behind  in  their  con- 
tribution, and  their  failure  was  obviously  due  to 
the  demoralization  which  attended  promiscuity  in 
sexual  relations.  In  the  Northern  States  a  certain 
sense  of  personal  dignity  had  created  a  public 
opinion  on  the  subject,  that  prevented  free  love 
from  producing  its  worst  results;  habits  of  indus- 
try, too,  already  existed  there,  and  the  creation 
of  state  farm  colonies — such  as  existed  in  our  day 
in  Holland — where  the  unwilling  were  made  to 
work  prevented  idleness  from  prevailing.  In  the 
Southern  States,  the  climate  lent  itself  to  all  the 
abuses  that  attend  the  surrender  of  self-control; 
the  women  never  possessed  the  initiative  necessary 
for  defense;  the  more  the  men  abandoned  them- 

107 


The  Demetrian 

selves  to  pleasure  the  less  they  were  able  either  to 
govern  or  to  tolerate  government;  and,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  there  was  a  relaxation  of  effort 
in  every  direction  whether  political,  industrial,  or 
domestic. 

Much  agitation  prevailed  in  the  rest  of  the 
Union  over  the  condition  of  the  South;  the  wom- 
en, particularly,  fearing  that  the  contagion  would 
spread,  banded  together  to  form  purity  leagues, 
with  a  view  to  meet  the  evil  by  a  system  of  social 
ostracism;  but  before  the  sexual  issue  came  to  a 
head,  the  failure  of  the  Southern  States  to  furnish 
their  quota  to  the  common  store  raised  an  eco- 
nomic issue  easier  to  handle.  The  federal  Gov- 
ernment passed  a  measure  providing  that  in  case 
any  State  failed  to  furnish  its  quota,  the  President 
was  to  replace  the  elected  governor  by  one  ap- 
pointed by  himself,  and  the  whole  penal  admin- 
istration was  to  pass  into  federal  hands,  with 
power  to  the  federal  Government  to  create  pauper 
colonies  and  administer  them.  This  aroused  the 
ferocity  of  the  whole  Southern  people,  and  it  was 
at  this  crisis  that  the  women  of  the  North  showed 
their  prowess  and  initiative.  They  formed  regi- 
ments which  rivaled  those  of  the  men  in  number, 
and  even  compared  with  them  in  efficiency.  The 
seceding  States  proved  utterly  unable  to  resist  the 

io8 


How  the   Cult  was   Founded 

forces  of  the  North,  and  were  soon  reduced  to  un- 
conditional surrender. 

In  the  period  of  reconstruction  which  fol- 
lowed this  civil  war,  there  came  to  the  front  in 
Concord  a  woman  of  singular  ability,  who  united 
the  mystic  power  of  the  founders  of  all  religions 
with  a  personal  beauty  that  made  of  her  the  model 
of  the  great  sculptor  of  that  day — Phocas.  She 
early  developed  a  faculty  for  divining  thought, 
which  secured  for  her  the  wonder  and  awe  of  the 
entire  neighborhood;  and  when  upon  reaching 
maturity  Phocas  took  her  as  his  model  for  a  statue 
of  Demeter,  she  entered  into  the  spirit  of  his  work 
and  the  spirit  of  his  work  entered  into  her.  The 
statue  was  his  masterpiece,  and  was  moved  from 
city  to  city  until,  coupled  as  it  soon  was  with  the 
personality  of  Latona — for  so  the  new  priestess 
styled  herself — it  became  the  center  of  a  veritable 
cult.  It  drew  the  minds  of  men  to  the  old  Greek 
worship  of  Fertility  and  Death  in  the  personali- 
ties of  Demeter  and  Persephone,  so  that  Fertility 
became  dignified  by  Death,  and  Death  disarmed 
by  Fertility — both  merging,  as  it  were,  into  a  no- 
tion of  immortality  dear  to  the  hopes  of  men.  The 
p-olden  ear  of  corn  that  figured  in  the  radiant 
tresses  of  Demeter  was  shadowed  by  the  death  in 
the  dark  earth  that  awaits  it,  and  thus  became  to 

109 


The  Demetrian 

them  an  emblem  of  the  annual  resurrection  of  the 
spring  with  its  promise  of  a  new  after-life  for 
man  also. 

To  Latona  the  quality  of  the  Greek  myth  most 
worthy  of  commemoration  was  the  spirit  of  sacri- 
fice, which  made  of  Demeter  the  Mater  Dolorosa 
of  the  ancient  world.  The  mother  seeking  her 
ravished  daughter  through  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world,  wresting  her  at  last  from  the  dark  god 
— but  for  a  season  only — and  during  the  season 
of  sorrow  and  solitude  finding  compensation  in 
caring  for  the  sick  child  of  a  woodman  in  a  forest 
hut — here  was  a  myth  for  which  Latona  could 
stand  and  through  which  she  could  draw  men  to 
learn  the  lesson  of  progress  and  happiness  through 
sacrifice.  The  long  hours  she  spent  with  Phocas 
in  the  study  of  these  things  and  the  strength  of 
his  genius  inspired  her  with  a  love  for  the  man 
as  well  as  for  his  art;  but  as  the  thought  that  she 
was  born  to  a  mission  slowly  dawned  upon  her 
she  withdrew  from  his  companionship,  as,  indeed, 
from  the  companionship  of  her  neighbors;  per- 
formed the  tasks  she  owed  the  state  with  punctili- 
ousness, and  gathered  about  her  a  few  women  who 
responded  to  her  exalted  ideas.  Her  love  for 
Phocas,  about  which  all  her  earthly  life  cen- 
tered, became  to  her  the  consummate  sacrifice  that 

no 


How  the  Cult  was  Founded 

she  could  make  to  this  new  religion  that  was 
slowly  taking  shape  in  her.  She  drew  her  votaries 
chiefly  from  the  conventual  order  that  had  gath- 
ered about  the  great  cathedral  on  Morningside 
Heights;  for  the  Christian  religion  had  experi- 
enced a  great  change  since  the  revolution.  The 
Christian  Church,  released  from  the  necessity  of 
worldly  consideration  of  wealth,  was  now  sus- 
tained by  those  only  who  sincerely  believed  in  her 
principles;  and  as  soon  as  the  city  had  been  re- 
built to  suit  the  new  conditions,  those  who  had 
contributed  their  leisure  to  the  beautifying  of  the 
streets,  turned  their  attention  to  the  neglected 
foundations  on  the  Heights.  They  found  in  the 
new  Christian  spirit  something  of  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  ridding  the  creed 
of  all  save  the  principle  of  love  which  Christ 
had  made  the  foundation  of  His  church,  set 
themselves  to  embodying  this  principle  with  its 
mystic  consequences  of  sacrifice  into  gothic  arch 
and  deep-stained  glass,  upon  a  scale  and  design 
heretofore  never  accomplished.  Abandoning  the 
transitional  style  at  first  contemplated,  they  adopt- 
ed the  general  scheme  of  Chartres;  but  in  lieu 
of  the  almost  discordant  steeples  of  Chartres  they 
substituted  a  design  taken  rather  from  what  is 
left  of  St.  Jean,   at  Soissons,  varying  in  height 

III 


The   Demetrian 

and  detail,  but  identical  in  style,  stimulating  won- 
der without  shocking  it.  The  entrance  porches 
of  the  western  fagade  were  inspired  by  Rheims 
and  Bourges,  for  there  were  five  of  them;  the  nave 
and  choir  towered  to  the  heights  of  Beauvais ;  and 
in  the  center  rose  the  spire  of  Salisbury.  The 
lateral  steeples  flanking  the  north  and  south  ap- 
proaches were  completed  with  the  same  bewilder- 
ing variety  as  on  the  west  front,  and  the  apse, 
where  rested  the  sanctuary,  terminated  the  story 
with  a  cluster  of  chapels  that  equaled,  if  not  ex- 
celled, the  chevet  of  Le  Mans;  and  so  every  part 
of  this  tribute  to  Christ  lifted  itself  up  in  adora- 
tion to  heaven  like  a  flame.  It  rose  from  a  green 
sward,  and  adjoining  it,  on  the  north  side,  was  a 
cloister  that  in  the  hush  of  its  seclusion  brought 
back  hallowed  recollections  of  a  bygone  age. 

It  was  from  this  cloister  that  Latona  drew  her 
following;  for  Latona,  with  her  thoughts  turned 
to  Eleusis  and  not  to  Galilee,  conceived  of  a  wor- 
ship which — though  sorrow  had  a  part  in  it — par- 
took also  of  joy  and  thanksgiving;  sacrifice  as- 
suredly, but  for  the  happiness  of  this  world, 
rather  than  for  its  mortification;  an  after  life  also, 
but  an  after  life  for  which  preparation  in  this 
world  might  through  the  great  unselfishness  of  a 
few  assure  the  happiness  of  the  many.     So  that 

I  12 


How  the   Cult  was   Founded 

while  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  sacrifice  had  become 
the  underlying  principle  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, sacrifice  for  the  making  of  joy  became  the 
central  idea  of  the  new  cult.  And  Latona,  as 
indeed  every  mystic,  the  more  she  dwelt  upon 
these  things,  the  more  she  grew  to  believe  in  her 
mission;  she  began  by  dreaming  dreams  and  ended 
by  seeing  visions;  she  found  that  fasting  and  ascet- 
icism contributed  to  lengthen  and  strengthen  the 
moments  when,  losing  consciousness  of  this  world, 
she  seemed  to  find  herself  in  direct  communion 
with  the  divine.  Her  body  soon  showed  the  traces 
of  her  spiritual  life;  she  lost  her  beauty,  but  in 
the  place  of  it  came  a  happiness  so  radiant  that 
as  she  walked  in  the  streets  to  her  allotted  task  it 
caused  men  and  women  to  stand  and  wonder. 

Meanwhile,  her  fame  grew  apace.  But  her 
personality  was  at  first  far  more  impressive  than 
her  cult.  The  one  was  clear  and  striking,  the 
other  vague  and  even  obscure.  At  last  on  a  day 
that  afterward  became  the  great  festival  of  the 
Demetrian  calendar,  Latona  fell  into  an  ecstasy 
that  lasted  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  set- 
ting. She  spent  it  on  her  knees,  in  adoration; 
rigid  and  motionless,  with  her  hands  held  out  as 
though  upon  a  cross;  none  of  those  about  her 
dared  intrude;  when  darkness  came  she  swooned, 

113 


The  Demetrian 

and  those  watching  lifted  her  to  her  couch.  For 
a  week  she  lay  as  it  were  unconscious.  Then  she 
gathered  her  votaries  about  her,  and  for  the  first 
time  clearly  enunciated  her  gospel  to  the  world. 
This  done,  a  strange  sickness  came  upon  her, 
she  was,  as  it  were,  consumed  by  the  fire  of  her 
inspiration;  she  wasted  away,  and  with  her  dying 
breath  asked  that  what  was  left  of  her  be  placed  in 
an  alembic,  the  gases  into  which  her  body  passed 
be  burned  and  the  flame,  so  lit,  be  never  extin- 
guished. 

And  it  was  done.  The  corpse  of  Latona  gave 
birth  to  a  new  vestal  fire  tended  by  new  vestals, 
vowed  no  longer  to  barrenness,  but  to  fertility  and 
sacrifice. 

Her  words  were  preserved  by  many  of  her  vo- 
taries, but  their  stories  varied,  as  must  indeed  all 
such  records  vary  in  a  world  where  minds  differ 
as  much  as  inclinations.  But  the  central  idea  re- 
mained and  gave  rise  to  a  cult  which,  unsupported 
by  the  state  or  by  law,  acquired  control  over  the 
minds  of  men,  much  as  did  the  papacy  in  the 
eleventh  century.  Some,  as  Ariston,  believed  it 
to  be  founded  on  reason,  but  dreaded  its  power 
and  increase;  others,  as  Chairo,  regarded  it  as 
an  unmitigated  despotism.  The  issue  was  to  be 
fought  out — as,  indeed,  such  issues  generally  are 

114 


How  the  Cult  was  Founded 

— through  the  conflict  between  personal  passions 
and  political  beliefs,  each  using  and  abusing  the 
other  and  out  of  both  emerging,  after  the  appease- 
ment to  which  every  struggle  eventually  tends^ 
into  a  clearer  idea  and  a  popular  verdict. 

Meanwhile,  the  followers  of  Latona  had  built 
the  temple  of  Demeter  on  the  old  classic  lines, 
and  the  solemn  grove  about  the  temple  had  not 
detracted  from  the  cathedral  close,  perhaps  be- 
cause each  cult  appealed  to  different  tempera- 
ments; perhaps,  also,  because  many  found  that  the 
two  cults  appealed  to  the  different  sides  of  char- 
acter and  to  the  different  demands  of  each. 

The  cult,  though  unsupported  by  any  law  or 
statute,  had  acquired  extraordinary  power  in  the 
state.  It  undertook  to  summon  before  its  council 
all  persons  charged  with  offenses  against  Demeter 
— Demeter  standing  amongst  other  things  for  the 
purity  of  domestic  life.  If  the  party  summoned 
refused  to  appear  before  the  council,  the  matter 
was  referred  to  the  attorney  general,  who,  under 
the  influence  of  the  cult,  prosecuted  the  charge 
in  the  criminal  courts  with  the  utmost  severity; 
and  whether  the  person  accused  was  convicted  or 
not,  a  refusal  to  appear  before  the  council  resulted 
in  a  social  ostracism  so  complete  that  few  ven- 
tured to  incur  it.    If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  party 

115 


The   Demetrian 

charged  appeared  before  the  council,  the  case  was 
likely  to  be  treated  with  leniency,  and  conviction 
seldom  resulted  in  more  than  the  imposing  of 
some  penitential  task.  Should  it,  however,  appear 
that  the  charge  was  more  serious  than  could  be 
dealt  with  by  the  cult,  it  was  referred  to  the 
attorney  general. 

The  cult  was  careful  to  abstain  from  any  act 
or  teaching  which  could  tend  to  encourage  idol- 
atry or  superstition;  thus,  the  statue  of  Latona, 
which  had  first  inspired  the  Demetrian  idea,  was 
not  placed  in  the  temple  where  it  might  be 
thought  properly  to  belong,  but  in  the  cloister. 
The  temptation  to  worship  it,  therefore,  was  re- 
moved. Indeed,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  making 
the  worship  of  a  graven  image  the  more  impos- 
sible that  Latona  had  asked  that  her  body  be  con- 
sumed and  the  flame  from  it  perpetuated  on  the 
altar.  A  flame  could  remain  an  emblem;  it  could 
hardly  itself,  in  our  day,  ever  become  an  object 
of  worship. 

In  this  way  was  kept  alive  the  idea  that  the 
divine,  wherever  else  it  might  also  exist,  exists 
certainly  within  each  and  every  one  of  us,  and 
that  by  the  cultivation  of  love  and  usefulness  it 
can  be  made  to  prosper  and  increase  in  us.  For 
men,  the  active  scope  of  usefulness  lay  chiefly  in 

ii6 


How  the   Cult  was   Founded 

the  field  of  labor;  for  women,  chiefly  in  the  field 
of  fertility — neither  field  excluding  the  other — 
but  rather  both  including  all.  And  so  women 
contributed  labor,  in  so  far  as  labor  did  not  im- 
pair their  essential  function  of  motherhood,  and 
men  contributed  continence  as  the  highest  male 
duty  in  the  field  of  fertility. 

The  duties  of  the  male,  therefore,  were 
grouped  into  two  classes,  active  and  passive;  the 
former  were  for  the  most  part  exercised  in  will- 
ingness to  labor  for  the  commonwealth  without 
too  grasping  a  regard  for  reward;  the  latter  con- 
sisted mainly  in  continence,  carefully  itself  dis- 
tinguished from  abstention — for  it  was  a  cardinal 
maxim  of  the  Demetrian  faith — as  old,  indeed, 
as  the  days  of  Aristotle — that  human  happiness 
could  but  be  attained  by  conditions  that  permitted 
the  due  exercise  of  all  human  functions,  each  ac- 
cording to  its  laws.  Science  therefore  came  to 
the  rescue  of  human  happiness  by  determining 
thfe  laws  of  human  functions;  and  art  completed 
its  work  by  creating  an  environment  which  to  the 
highest  degree  possible  enabled  every  man  and 
woman  to  exercise  all  their  functions  with  wis- 
dom, moderation,  and  delight,  to  the  best  happi- 
ness of  all  and  the  ultimate  advancement  of  the 
race. 

117 


The  Demetrian 

And  although  the  future  of  the  race  was  for- 
ever present  to  the  priests  of  the  cult,  yet  were 
men  and  women  not  expected  to  make  any  great 
sacrifice  beyond  the  immediate  generations  that 
succeeded  them,  the  institution  of  marriage  being 
carefully  maintained  because  it  kept  alive  the  care 
of  the  parent,  each  for  its  own  offspring,  thus  pro- 
viding for  every  generation  the  protection  fur- 
nished by  paternal  pride  and  maternal  solicitude. 

The  purity  of  the  domestic  hearth,  its  rever- 
ential care  of  offspring,  the  lifting  of  motherhood 
out  of  the  irreligion  of  caprice  into  the  religion 
of  sacrifice;  the  exercise  in  all  these  matters  of 
the  highest,  because  the  most  difficult,  of  all  the 
virtues — moderation — these  are  the  special  con- 
cerns of  the  Demetrian  cult. 


ii8 


CHAPTER   IX 

HOW  IT  MIGHT  BE  UNDERMINED 

THE  discussion  of  these  matters  by  Ariston 
and  Chairo  elicited  an  old  story  which 
was  to  receive  its  sequel  in  my  time  and 
it  is  important,  therefore,  to  narrate  it. 

It  seems  that  the  year  before  my  arrival  among 
them  Neaera  had  encouraged  the  addresses  of  a 
certain  Harmes — a  brother  of  Anna  of  Ann,  and 
that  Harmes  was  accused  by  her  of  having  become 
so  ungovernable  that  it  had  given  rise  to  a  public 
prosecution.  Harmes  had  been  convicted  and 
confined  to  a  farm  colony,  where  he  was  still  serv- 
ing his  term.  The  incident  had  given  rise  to  much 
vexation  of  spirit,  for  many  felt  that  Harmes  was 
more  sinned  against  than  sinning. 

The  account  Ariston  gave  of  the  matter  was 
greatly  to  Neaera's  discredit;  according  to  him, 
Neaera  originally  had  designs  on  Chairo,  and 
he  seemed  willing  enough  to  enjoy  her  society. 
Much  thrown  together,  both  by  politics  and  jour- 
nalism, it  was  not  unnatural  that  their  compan- 

119 


The  Demetrian 

ionship  should  often  extend  itself  into  their  hours 
of  leisure.  But  Chairo  was  far  too  clear-sighted 
not  to  perceive  the  capriciousness  and  duplicity 
of  his  collaborator,  and  Neaera  wasted  her  efforts 
upon  him. 

Of  this,  however,  she  could  never  be  convinced 
and  she  returned  to  the  charge  over  and  over 
again.  During  one  of  the  interludes  she  happened 
to  meet  Harmes  and  took  a  liking  to  the  fresh- 
ness of  his  youth;  he  became  infatuated  with  her, 
and  one  evening  he  visited  her  at  her  apartment 
on  an  occasion  when  Neaera's  mother  was  absent 
and  she  was  therefore  alone.  It  seems  the  young 
couple  remained  together  so  late  into  the  even- 
ing that  Neaera  on  the  following  day,  fearing  that 
a  rumor  of  the  visit  might  reach  Chairo  to  her 
disadvantage,  complained  of  Harmes's  violence. 
Harmes,  with  a  devotion  to  Neaera  of  which 
Ariston  did  not  think  her  worthy,  refused  to  de- 
fend himself  against  the  charge.  It  is  probable 
the  matter  would  have  dropped  had  not  some  ene- 
mies of  Neaera  taken  the  matter  up,  believing 
that,  if  prosecuted,  Harmes  would  not  refuse  to 
vindicate  himself  and  injure  Neaera. 

The  charge  had  therefore  been  brought  first 
before  the  Demetrian  council ;  and  the  council,  on 
the  same  theory  as  that  adopted  by  Neaera's  ene- 

I20 


How  it  Might  be   Undermined 

mies,  and  convinced  that  Neaera  would  be  pun- 
ished, put  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  the  attorney 
general.  Harmes's  silence,  however,  only  served 
to  vindicate  Neaera  and  convict  himself;  and  the 
community  was  still  undecided  as  to  which  was 
the  culprit  and  which  the  victim. 

I  had  an  opportunity  myself  of  forming  an 
opinion  on  the  subject,  for  shortly  after  my  con- 
versation with  Ariston  and  Chairo  I  received  an 
intimation  from  Neaera  that  she  would  like  to 
see  me  at  the  office  of  the  Liberty  staff,  and  upon 
going  there  at  the  hour  mentioned  I  found  Neaera 
busily  engaged  writing  in  a  room  that  suggested 
other  things  than  labor;  for  it  was  furnished  with 
more  luxury  than  was  usual,  and  there  were  richly 
upholstered  divans  in  it  laden  with  piles  of  eider- 
down pillows;  the  air,  too,  was  heavy  with  per- 
fume. 

Neaera,  however,  received  me  with  her  brow 
contracted;  she  was  working  at  an  editorial,  and 
I  evidently  interrupted  the  flow  of  her  thought; 
but  the  frown  very  soon  passed  away  from  her 
forehead,  and  standing  up  a  little  impatiently  she 
flung  her  pen  down  on  the  table. 

"There!"  she  said,  "I  am  glad  you  have 
come;  I  need  rest." 

She  threw  herself  on  the  divan,  and  I  could 

121 


The  Demetrian 

not  help  thinking  as  she  lay  there  that  the  Greek 
dress  was  less  open  to  criticism  in  the  fields  and 
open  air  than  in  a  closed  room.  In  town  the 
longer  mantle  was  worn  which  came  down  to  the 
feet;  but  the  clinging  drapery  displayed  the  lines 
of  the  figure  in  a  manner  to  which  I  felt  uncom^ 
fortably  unaccustomed. 

"  I  sent  for  you,"  said  she,  "  to  speak  to  you 
seriously  about  this  lecture  you  are  to  give.  Your 
views  may  have  an  important  bearing  and  you 
ought  to  know  the  evils  of  our  system  if  you  are 
to  compare  them  with  the  old." 

"  I  am  impressed,"  answered  I,  *'  with  certain 
things — such  as  the  absence  of  poverty,  the  rela- 
tive well-being  of  all;  and  this  seems  to  me  so 
important  that  I  am  inclined  perhaps  to  under- 
value the  price  you  pay  for  them " 

"  The  price — that  is  it — the  terrible  price;  we 
are  subjected  to  a  despotism  such  as  you  in  your 
times  would  not  for  a  moment  have  endured." 

"  Undoubtedly — in  one  sense  of  the  word — 
despotism.  But  Ariston  claims  that  this  despot- 
ism, though  absolute,  applies  to  only  a  few  hours 
in  the  day,  whereas  in  our  time  there  was  for  the 
mass  as  great  a  despotism  that  controlled  their 
entire  existence.  Some  time  must  be  given  to  the 
securing  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter.    The  pres- 

122 


How  it  Might  be   Undermined 

ent  government  claims  to  furnish  this  to  all  with 
less  labor  and  less  compulsion  than  under  our 
system." 

We  discussed  this  question  at  some  length,  but 
I  could  not  help  thinking  that  some  other  thought 
.was  preoccupying  Neaera's  mind,  and  presently 
she  stretched  her  arms  over  her  head  and  said, 
'^  Oh,  I  am  tired  of  it  all! " — then  turning  on  her 
side  she  laid  her  head  upon  a  bare  arm,  and  look- 
ing at  me,  smiled. 

It  was  impossible  to  mistake  her  gesture  or  her 
smile;  it  told  me  that  she  had  not  called  me  to 
speak  of  serious  things  at  all;  it  beckoned  me  to 
her  side  on  the  divan,  and  I  almost  felt  myself 
unconsciously  responding  to  her  invitation.  But 
I  was  aware  of  danger  and  refrained.  Neverthe- 
less, I  was  curious  to  know  whether  I  was  accus- 
ing her  wrongfully,  and  I  said: 

"  The  thing  that  puzzles  me  most  about  you 
all  is — "  I  hesitated  intentionally,  and  she  helped 
me. 

"  What  is  it?  " 

"  I  don't  know  how  to  say  it." 

^'Bashful?" 

"  A  little." 

"  Can  I  guess?  " 

"  I  think  you  can." 

I2J 


The  Demetrian 

"  We  are  all  as  much  puzzled  about  it  as  you.*' 

"  And  yet  I  am  told  you  pride  yourselves  on 
your  good  behavior." 

"  Some  do  " — she  paused  a  little,  took  a  flower 
from  a  vase  by  her  side  and  bit  the  stalk;  she  held 
the  flower  in  her  mouth  a  minute,  looked  at  me 
again,  half  closing  her  eyes;  but  I  remained  seated 
where  I  was.  Finding  I  remained  unresponsive, 
she  went  on : 

"  We  have  all  the  faults  that  come  from  too 
great  intimacy  between  men  and  women.  The 
men  get  so  accustomed  to  the  women  that  romance 
is  dead.  We  tend  to  become  a  vast  family  of 
brothers  and  sisters.  Fortunately  we  travel  and 
receive  travelers,  and  so  the  dreadful  monotony  is 
relieved.    You  are  a  traveler,  you  see." 

I  understood  now  why  I  was  favored,  but  still 
I  remained  seated  where  I  was. 

Perceiving  that  I  was  either  stupid  or  resolute 
she  jumped  up  from  the  divan  and  came  to  where 
I  sat.  She  was  short,  and  as  she  stood  by  me,  her 
face  was  near  mine  and  only  a  little  above  it.  She 
had  the  flower  in  her  hand  now,  and  handing  it  to 
me,  said: 

"  Put  it  in  my  hair." 

I  did  so.  She  lowered  her  head  to  help  me. 
I  thought  the  time  had  come  to  effect  an  escape. 

124. 


How  it  Might  be   Undermined 

"  Did  you  ever  hear,"  said  I,  "  the  Eastern 
story  of  the  man  with  the  staff,  the  cock,  and  the 
pot?  " 

"  No,  tell  it  me." 

"  There  was  once  upon  a  time  a  man  climb- 
ing a  mountain.  He  had  a  pot  hung  on  his  arm 
and  a  cock  in  his  hand.  In  the  other  hand  he  held 
a  staff.  On  his  way  he  perceived  a  young  girl 
and  invited  her  to  climb  the  mountain  with  him. 
V/ith  some  little  show  of  reluctance  she  consented, 
but  as  they  approached  the  last  house  on  the 
mountainside  she  paused  and  said: 

"  '  I  shall  go  no  farther  with  you! ' 

"  ^  Why  not?  '  asked  he. 

"  '  Because  I  fear  that  when  we  have  gone  be- 
yond reach  of  these  houses  you  will  kiss  me.' 

"  '  Nay,'  answered  the  man,  *  do  you  not  see 
that  both  hands  are  encumbered?  In  one  hand  I 
hold  my  staff;  in  the  other  is  a  cock  and  a  pot 
hangs  upon  my  arm.' 

"  The  maiden  smiled  and  they  pursued  their 
way.  But  when  they  were  gone  well  up  on  their 
way  the  maiden  stopped  again  and  said: 

"  '  I  shall  go  no  farther  with  you.' 

"  '  Why  not?  '  asked  he. 

" '  Because  I  fear  that  now  we  are  beyond 
reach  of  the  houses,  you  will  stick  your  staff  in  the 

125 


The  Demetrian 

ground;  you  will  put  your  cock  under  your  pot, 
and  you  will  kiss  me.' 

"  And  the  man  did  then  at  once  stick  his  staff 
in  the  ground;  he  put  the  cock  under  the  pot  and 
kissed  her — as  indeed  all  along  she  meant  he 
should." 

She  gradually  edged  away  from  me  as  I  pro- 
ceeded with  my  story,  until  at  last  she  sank  on  the 
divan  again. 

When  I  had  finished  she  said,  "  That  is  a  very 
old  story,  and  if  you  will  permit  me  I  shall  get 
to  work  again." 

I  bowed  very  low  and  left  her,  feeling  more 
humiliated  than  Neaera;  and  I  wondered  why  it 
was  that  virtue,  in  the  presence  of  vice,  sometimes 
seems  cheap  and  even  ridiculous. 


126 


CHAPTER   X 

AN   UNEXPECTED  SOLUTION 

GHAIRO  had  been  kept  informed  of  what 
was  happening  to  Lydia  until  the  last  day 
of  the  Eleusinian  festival,  and  he  believed 
that  all  danger  of  losing  her  was  over.  The  ap- 
pearance of  Lydia,  therefore,  in  the  procession 
wearing  the  yellow  veil  was  all  the  more  a 
stupefying  surprise  to  him.  I  was  standing  with 
him  and  Ariston  as  the  procession  passed,  and 
was  looking  with  eager  and  delighted  interest  at 
the  gracefully  draped  figures  that  succeeded  one 
another  to  the  sound  of  music,  which,  with  a 
subtle  combination  of  majesty  and  grace,  com- 
bined the  plain  chant  of  the  Catholic  liturgy  with 
the  lighter  fugues  of  Bach,  for  in  and  out  of  great 
chords  there  ran  intermingling  strains  of  many 
voices,  very  light  and  delicate. 

The  procession  was  headed  by  girls  and  boys, 
selected  for  their  perfect  wholesomeness,  who 
carried  flowers  and  scattered  them;  they  were 
dressed  in  the  old  Greek  chiton  which,  fastened 

127 


The  Demetrian 

only  above  the  shoulder,  betrayed  every  move- 
ment of  their  lithe  young  bodies,  as,  swaying  with 
the  rhythm  of  the  sower  casting  his  seed,  they 
threw  their  offerings  first  on  one  side  and  then 
on  the  other.  The  governor  of  the  State,  the 
mayor  of  the  city,  the  commander  of  the  militia, 
and  their  respective  cabinets  and  staffs  followed, 
respectively  arrayed  in  the  insignia  of  their  of- 
fice; the  other  cults  also  were  represented;  those  of 
Jupiter  robed  in  purple;  those  of  Asclepius;  those 
of  Dionysus,  and  others.  In  striking  contrast  with 
these  came  next  the  novices  and  the  nuns,  swathed 
closely  and  heavily,  even  the  head  being  concealed 
within  a  fold  of  drapery.  The  procession  entered 
from  the  cloister,  and  on  approaching  the  altar 
where  was  kept  burning  the  vestal  flame,  it  di- 
vided so  as  to  allow  the  high  priest  and  his  acolytes 
to  pass  up  between.  The  high  priest  was  followed 
by  the  choir,  and  after  the  choir  walked  those 
who  had  accepted  the  mission. 

It  was  upon  these  that  the  curiosity  and  im- 
patience of  the  congregation  centered;  it  some- 
times happened  that  there  were  none;  in  such  case 
the  procession  was  closed  by  the  Demetrians — 
that  is  to  say,  all  who  had  already  accepted  the 
mission  and  completed  it.  On  this  occasion  a 
single  figure  was  seen  to  enter  the  portal,  covered 

128 


An   Unexpected  Solution 

with  the  yellow  veil  and  so  draped  as  to  conceal 
her  features.  The  head,  however,  more  usually 
bowed,  was  erect.  For  a  sensible  period  of  sus- 
pense it  was  impossible  to  tell  who  it  was  that 
had  assumed  the  yellow  shroud;  but  presently 
those  nearest  to  her  had  discovered  Lydia,  and 
her  name  passed  in  an  awful  whisper  to  where  v/e 
stood.  The  name  once  pronounced,  there  could 
no  longer  be  mistake;  Lydia  alone  of  all  the  pos- 
tulants could  so  hold  herself:  Vera  incessu  patuit 
dea.  I  felt  a  clutch  at  my  arm,  and,  turning,  saw 
the  face  of  Chairo  blanched  and  hard;  but  I  was 
too  absorbed  in  the  procession  to  take  long  heed 
of  him;  I  saw  the  procession  close,  and  followed 
the  ritual  with  breathless  interest  till  the  congre- 
gation was  dismissed,  unaware  that  Chairo  had 
already  slipped  away  from  me  and  out  of  the 
temple. 

As  Ariston  and  I  walked  back  to  our  lodging 
I  asked  what  Chairo  would  do.  Ariston  answered 
that  he  feared  trouble.  We  were  both  deeply  af- 
fected, for  even  Ariston,  votary  of  Demeter 
though  he  was,  could  not  but  feel  as  I  did,  that 
there  was  something  in  the  choice  of  Lydia 
strange  and  portentous.  We  discussed  it  in  low 
voices,  and  for  many  days  little  else  was  spoken 
of.     Meanwhile,  anxiety  regarding  the  action  of 

129 


The  Demetrian 

Chairo  redoubled  for  he  bad  disappeared.  It  was 
well  known  that  the  Demetrian  council  was  tak- 
ing steps,  but  no  one  knew  what  the  steps  were, 
and  a  sense  of  impending  calamity  weighed  upon 
us  all. 

From  the  moment  Lydia  had  decided  to  accept 
the  mission,  there  seemed  to  grow  in  her  a  strength 
that  was  not  her  own.  She  rose  from  the  couch, 
on  which  she  had  thrown  herself  upon  leaving 
Irene,  without  a  symptom  of  her  old  irresolution; 
she  stood  without  sense  of  fatigue  while  the  yel- 
low shroud  was  so  draped  about  her  as  to  hide  her 
face  to  the  utmost  possible,  for  though  she  knew 
she  could  not  escape  recognition  an  instinct  in  her 
set  her  upon  the  attempt  to  do  so;  and  when  in 
the  procession  she  entered  the  portals  of  the  tem- 
ple, a  glow  moved  up  from  her  heart  to  her  head 
that  deeply  flushed  her  countenance  as  she  heard 
the  whisper  "  Lydia  "  grow  from  mouth  to  mouth 
into  an  almost  angry  protestation.  Nevertheless, 
she  felt  sure  now  that  she  was  right;  it  was  easier 
as  well  as  nobler  to  make  the  sacrifice  than  to 
yield.  She  walked  firmly,  with  head  erect,  until 
she  sank  upon  her  knees  before  the  altar,  and  the 
choir's  triumphant  processional  was  subdued  in 
low  responses  to  the  chant  of  the  high  priest. 

At  last  he  turned  to  her  and  lifted  his  hands 
130 


An  Unexpected  Solution 

in  mute  suggestion  that  she  should  bring  her  trib- 
ute to  the  goddess.  A  Demetrian  presented  her 
the  flint  which  was  to  symbolize  the  strength  of 
her  sacrifice;  the  priest  gave  her  the  steel  that 
symbolized  its  cruelty;  and  striking  one  against 
the  other  she  lit  a  spark  that  added  a  new  flame 
to  the  altar.  This  was  the  irrevocable  act.  A 
great  sigh  mingled  with  many  sobs  broke  from 
those  present  in  the  temple;  but  her  eyes  remained 
dry,  and  at  the  close  of  the  ceremony  she  walked 
back  to  the  cloister  as  firmly  as  she  had  left  it. 

But  once  returned,  there  came  upon  her 
the  inevitable  reaction;  she  discovered  that  the 
strength  which  had  come  upon  her  suddenly 
could  no  less  suddenly  forsake  her;  she  threw  her- 
self upon  a  couch  and  asked  to  be  left  alone.  As 
the  door  closed  upon  her  attendant  she  was  half 
astonished,  half  afraid  to  find  sobs  invade  her  and 
tears  gush  from  her  eyes.  What  did  it  all  mean? 
Had  she  a  will  of  her  own,  or  was  she  merely 
the  arena  upon  which  instincts,  half  of  heredity, 
half  of  education,  were  fighting  out  their  battle, 
independently  of  her?  She  seemed  to  have  be- 
come a  mere  spectator  of  it;  alas,  she  must  also 
be  its  victim.  She  lay  sobbing  until  the  sobs 
slowly  died  away,  leaving  her  exhausted,  and  at 
last  she  slept  like  a  tired  child. 

131 


The  Demetrian 

The  next  morning  she  awoke  as  weak  as 
though  she  had  had  a  long  fever.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom for  novices  to  be  removed  to  a  temple  in  an 
island  off  the  coast  as  soon  as  they  accepted  the 
mission — for,  from  the  day  of  acceptance  they 
were  secluded — living  with  Demetrians  only,  un- 
der conditions  which,  though  compatible  with 
their  mission  were,  nevertheless,  most  conducive 
to  gayety  and  health.  But  Lydia  was  too  weak  to 
be  moved;  and  she  lay  in  her  bed  night  and  day, 
eating  little,  sleeping  little,  very  quiet.  There 
was  hardly  room  in  her  thoughts  for  regret;  she 
had  committed  the  irrevocable  act  and  now  she 
must  resign  herself;  her  body  had  been  exhausted 
by  the  struggle  and  cried  for  rest;  and  rest  was 
given  her. 

Slowly  her  strength  returned,  and  she  was  be- 
ginning to  feel  the  time  had  come  to  go  to  the 
island  cloister  when,  suddenly  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  she  was  aware  that  some  one  had  pushed 
aside  the  curtain  at  her  door  and  was  standing  in 
her  room.  She  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  any- 
thing, but  she  was  conscious  of  a  presence,  and 
a  guilty  delight  in  her  heart  told  her,  however 
incredible,  that  it  was — Chairo. 

She  raised  herself  in  her  bed  on  her  hand  and 
found  herself  seized  in  a  passionate  embrace. 

132 


An   Unexpected   Solution 

"  For  the  love  of  God!"  she  heard  his  voice 
vv^hisper  to  her,  "don't  resist";  and  compelling 
arms  lifted  her  off  her  couch,  w^rapped  the  heavy 
coverings  upon  it  about  her,  and  carried  her  like 
a  child  out  of  the  room.     She  was  taken  into  the 
cloister;  her  head  was  covered,  and  she  did  not 
wish   to  see.     The  weakness  which   had   racked 
her  bones  and  from  which  she  had  barely  re- 
covered came  back  to  her,  but  now  how  differ- 
ent!    For  it  wrapped  a  lethargy  about  her  to 
which  it  was  an  ecstasy  to  surrender;  no  pain  now; 
no  sorrow;  not  even  contrition.     She  was  in  the 
arms  of  Chairo,  and  it  had  happened  without  a 
sign  from  her;  almost  against  her  will;  without 
her  consent.    For  a  season,  at  any  rate,  Lydia  sur- 
rendered herself  to  the  sweet  self-deception  that 
this  had  really  all  happened  without  her  consent. 
Deep  in  her  heart,  however,  was  the  conviction 
that  she  had  strength  enough  to   resist  had  she 
chosen;  that  a  single  cry  would  have  sufficed  to 
thwart  a  desperate  stratagem.     She  was  a  little 
alarmed  to  find  that  this  conviction  could  remain 
unshaken,  and  that,  nevertheless,  there  was  a  song 
of  thanksgiving  in  her  heart  that  the  strength  of 
resistance  had  remained  unused  and  the  cry  re- 
mained unuttered. 

Chairo's  strong  arms  were  about  her  as  he 
133 


The  Demetrian 

silently  hurried  through  the  cloister.  Lydia 
heard  other  hurrying  steps  besides  his;  he  had 
clearly  joined  confederates;  she  was  soon  put 
into  a  carriage  and  whirled  away  from  the 
temple. 


134 


1 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  PLOT  THICKENS 

■^HE  first  news  I  had  of  the  carrying  off  of 
Lydia  was  from  Ariston.  I  was  just  go- 
ing down  to  breakfast  when  he  abruptly 
entered  the  sitting  room  we  shared,  and  ex- 
claimed: "Lydia  has  disappeared!" 

To  my  inquiries  he  answered  that  the  gate  of 
the  cloister  had  been  forced,  and  the  janitor 
bound  and  gagged.  Obviously  several  men  were 
involved,  for  traces  of  many  steps  were  clearly 
visible — all  shod;  Lydia's  sandals  and  cothurni 
were  still  in  her  room:  she  had,  apparently,  been 
lifted  off  her  bed  in  the  bed  clothes;  the  absence 
of  all  trace  of  bare  feet  indicated  that  Lydia  had 
not  put  foot  to  ground.  Probably  she  had  been 
gagged  also,  as  no  cry  had  been  heard ;  everything 
seemed  to  indicate  that  she  had  been  carried  off 
against  her  will.  The  Demetrian  council  was 
swearing  in  special  constables  and  had  called  upon 
the  state  authorities  for  help  to  capture  the  in- 
truders; on  the  other  hand,   Balbus  and  others 

^3S 


The   Demetrian 

were  collecting  their  followers,  and  armed  con- 
flict was  feared. 

Ariston  was  in  great  perplexity;  all  his  con- 
victions were  on  the  side  of  order;  but  friendship 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  join  Chairo's  ene- 
mies. After  an  animated  discussion  we  decided 
that  he  should  go  to  the  council  and  endeavor  to 
obtain  a  hearing,  in  the  hope  of  persuading  the 
council  to  abandon  the  effort  either  to  recover 
Lydia  or  punish  Chairo.  Ariston  begged  me  to 
go  to  Lydia  First,  explain  to  her  the  steps  he  was 
taking,  and  put  myself  at  her  disposal  should  she 
have  a  message  to  send  him. 

I  hurried  to  Lydia  First's  apartment  and 
found  Cleon  there.  With  flushed  face  Cleon  an- 
nounced that  Chairo  and  his  sister  had  been  cap- 
tured; that  they  were  probably  at  that  moment 
before  the  magistrate;  that  he  had  rushed  home  to 
tell  his  mother,  and  that  she  was  preparing  to  go 
to  her  daughter. 

Presently  Lydia  First  entered  the  room;  the 
events  of  the  night  had  not  impaired  the  dignity 
of  her  manner  but  had  deepened  the  lines  in  her 
already  timeworn  countenance.  She  bade  me 
seek  Ariston,  of  whose  knowledge  of  legal  proce- 
dure she  felt  in  need,  and  hurry  him  to  the  court 
where  Lydia  and  Chairo  were  being  examined. 

136 


The  Plot  Thickens 

Prisoners  were  entitled  to  counsel  if  they  asked 
for  it;  but  the  innocent  seldom  availed  themselves 
of  the  privilege.  The  examination  might,  there- 
fore, be  actually  then  proceeding  unless  either 
Chairo  or  Lydia  demanded  an  adjournment.  It 
little  suited  the  temperament  of  Chairo  to  seek 
counsel,  and  the  consciousness  of  innocence  would 
prevent  Lydia  from  doing  so.  I  hastened,  there- 
fore, with  all  speed  and  found  Ariston  waiting 
to  be  introduced  into  the  council  chamber.  He 
was  still  ignorant  of  the  capture.  We  hurried  to 
the  courthouse  and  Ariston,  who  had  no  right 
to  appear  except  at  the  request  of  one  of  the 
prisoners,  sent  in  a  line  both  to  Chairo  and 
Lydia  urging  them  to  demand  an  adjournment. 
The  examination  had  already  commenced.  Both 
Chairo  and  Lydia,  however,  asked  that  Ariston 
be  admitted,  and  I  was  admitted  with  him. 

Lydia  First  was  there  and  had  already  urged 
both  Chairo  and  Lydia  to  ask  for  counsel,  and 
both  had  refused.  The  examination  was  not  a 
public  one,  only  relations  and  friends  or  counsel 
being  admitted;  when,  however,  Ariston's  mes- 
sage was  received,  he  was  by  general  consent 
admitted,  and  he  immediately  addressed  the  ex- 
amining magistrate.  He  pointed  out  that  Chairo, 
being  a  member  of  the  state  legislature,  enjoyed 

137 


The  Demetrian 

immunity  from  arrest  unless  captured  in  flagrante 
delicto,  and  that  Lydia  was  not  charged  with  any 
ofifense;  both  ought,  therefore,  to  be  released  with- 
out examination.  A  priest,  however,  who  ap- 
peared for  the  Demetrian  council  persisted  that 
their  doors  had  been  forced,  their  sanctuary  vio- 
lated, a  vestal  carried  off  without  her  consent,  and 
Chairo  found  in  the  act  of  flight  with  her;  the 
priest  maintained  that  this  constituted  arrest  in 
flagrante  delicto.  Chairo  reminded  the  magis- 
trate that  he  had  not  sought  to  escape  examina- 
tion, but  added  that,  mindful  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  issue  involved  in  the  case,  he  felt  it  ought 
to  be  fought  out  in  the  political  rather  than  the 
judicial  arena,  and  that  he  was  indebted  to  Aris- 
ton  for  having  reminded  the  court  of  an  immunity 
which  would  transfer  the  question  from  the  courts 
to  the  legislature. 

The  magistrate  decided  that  he  would  not  pro- 
ceed with  the  examination,  but  in  view  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  offense  he  would  hold  Chairo 
until  the  question  whether  legislative  immunity 
applied  to  his  case  could  be  decided  by  a  full 
court. 

Chairo  was,  therefore,  confined  in  the  house 
of  detention,  and  Lydia  was  restored  to  her 
mother. 

138 


The  Plot  Thickens 

We  at  once  sought  admittance  to  Chairo,  and 
found  him  impatiently  pacing  the  room  where  he 
was  confined. 

"  There  was  treachery,"  he  exclaimed.  "  My 
carriage  had  been  tampered  with;  it  broke  down 
within  a  mile  of  the  cloister.  I  am  trying  to  think 
who  can  have  been  guilty  of  it." 

He  continued  pacing  the  room  and  neither  of 
us  was  disposed  to  speak.  Suddenly  he  turned 
to  Ariston: 

"  But  I  have  not  thanked  you;  I  should  have 
made  a  mistake  had  you  not  interfered;  and  I 
know  you  belong  to  the  other  side."  He  put  his 
hand  out  to  Ariston  and  they  shook  hands  warmly. 

''  You  may  be  of  immense  service  at  this  mo- 
ment," he  continued,  "  just  because  you  belong  to 
the  government  party.  I  was  prepared  for  vio- 
lence, and  Balbus  is  now  collecting  our  friends; 
but  this  treachery  makes  me  doubtful  of  success; 
only  some  half  dozen  knew  of  my  plan;  the 
loyalty  of  every  one  of  them  seems  essential  to  us, 
and  one  of  them  is  a — traitor." 

"  You  should  be  thankful  that  treachery  pre- 
vented your  resort  to  violence,"  answered  Ariston. 
"  You  have  secured  what  must  be  the  matter  of 
most  importance  to  you:  Lydia  is  restored  to  her 
home;  she  is  removed  from  the  cloister  and  is 

139 


The  Demetrian 

given  time  for  reflection.  This  you  could  doubt- 
less not  have  brought  about  in  any  other  manner 
than  by  the  plan  you  adopted.  But  had  you 
escaped  there  would  have  been  only  one  alterna- 
tive; now  the  question  can  be  settled  without  the 
shedding  of  blood." 

"But  I  have  lost  Lydia!"  exclaimed  Chairo, 
with  haggard  eyes. 

"  Not  lost,"  said  Ariston.  "  I  have  yet  to  learn 
just  what  part  Lydia  has  played  in  the  matter. 
Did  she  consent?  " 

Chairo,  who  was  still  pacing  the  room,  sud- 
denly stopped  and  faced  us;  he  put  out  both  hands 
deprecatingly  and  seemed  about  to  answer,  but  ar- 
rested himself  and  resumed  his  walk.  Then  very 
slowly  he  said: 

*'  What  do  you  mean  by  consent?  Can  she  be 
said  to  have  consented  when,  under  an  influence 
that  paralyzed  her  will  she  paid  her  tribute  at 
the  altar?  The  question  we  have  to  bring  before 
the  state  is  not  whether  Lydia  consented  to  the 
cult  or  to  me,  but  whether  the  influence  exercised 
by  the  cult  is  a  wholesome  influence  or  a  damn- 
able one." 

"  If  you  want  this  issue  to  be  fairly  presented," 
said  Ariston,  "  don't  allow  your  case  to  be  preju- 
diced by  violence.    Send  orders  at  once  to  Balbus 

140 


The  Plot  Thickens 

bidding  him  abandon  this  gathering  together  of 
your  followers.  The  mere  fact  that  he  is  pre- 
paring for  violence  will  distort  the  issue,  and  any 
attempt  at  rescue  will  prevent  a  calm  and  fair 
discussion  of  it  altogether." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Chairo.  He  took  out  a 
note  book  and  made  as  though  he  would  write, 
but  checking  himself,  he  said:  "  I  must  put  noth- 
ing on  paper,"  and  turning  to  me  asked:  "  Won't 
you  go  to  Balbus  at  once  and  explain  to  him  that 
violence  now  would  be  a  mistake?  He  would 
hardly  accept  such  a  message  from  Ariston,  who 
is  known  to  be  on  the  government  side;  but  from 
you  it  will  seem  less  open  to  suspicion.  Tell  him 
if  he  doubts  you  to  come  and  see  me,  and  hear  my 
views  from  my  own  lips." 

On  leaving  Ariston  I  was  aware  that  a  large 
force  of  special  constables,  bearing  the  badge  of 
Demeter — a  sheaf  of  wheat — were  gathered  about 
the  House  of  Detention.  I  hurried  to  the  office 
of  Liberty  and  found  a  crowd  there,  through 
which  it  was  difficult  to  penetrate.  Obviously 
something  unusual  was  happening.  I  should  nev- 
er have  got  through  to  Balbus  had  I  not  been  able 
to  state  that  I  was  the  bearer  of  a  message  from 
Chairo.  This,  however,  opened  every  door  to  me, 
and  soon  I  found  myself  in  a  room  where  Balbus 

141 


The  Demetrian 

was  engaged  in  giving  rapid  instructions  to  a 
number  of  men  waiting  their  turn  to  be  received. 
Neaera  was  there  also,  sitting  at  a  side  table, 
busily  writing.  As  soon  as  I  began  giving  my 
message  to  Balbus,  Neaera  rose  and  came  toward 
us.  She  was  serious  and  there  was  a  slight  frown 
upon  her  face.  When  I  had  finished,  Balbus 
turned  to  her  and  she  answered: 

"  It  is  too  late.  Measures  have  already  been 
taken.  Besides,  Chairo's  messenger  " — and  as  she 
looked  at  me  squarely  in  the  face  her  brow  dark- 
ened— "  is  not  accredited." 

I  explained  the  situation  as  Chairo  had  stated 
it  and  urged  Balbus  to  go  himself  to  the  House 
of  Detention.    But  Neaera  said  quickly: 

"  If  Balbus  were  to  leave  this  office  unes- 
corted he  would  be  arrested.  He  is  already  com- 
promised. Moreover,  we  cannot  take  our  orders 
from  a  prisoner." 

"  The  House  of  Detention  is  strongly  guard- 
ed," said  I. 

"  And  we  are  strongly  armed,"  answered 
Neaera. 

I  felt  that  it  was  useless  further  to  insist  and 
proposed  to  retire,  but  Neaera  whispered  a  word 
in  Balbus's  ear,  and  he  said  to  me,  "  I  think  I 
shall  ask  you  to  stay  with  us  a  little  while." 

142 


The  Plot  Thickens 

"  I  shall  not  stay  with  you  except  compelled 
to  do  so  by  actual  violence,"  I  answered,  with  no 
slight  indignation. 

"  Then  we  shall  have  to  use  violence,"  an- 
swered Balbus. 

In  a  moment  I  was  seized,  bound,  gagged,  and 
hurried  into  an  adjoining  room  where  I  was  tied 
to  a  chair  and  a  band  was  fastened  about  my  eyes. 
In  this  uncomfortable  position  I  remained  for 
some  hours. 


143 


CHAPTER   XII 

neaera's  idea  of  diplomacy 

AT  first  I  was  aware  from  a  hum  of  voices 
that  others  remained  in  the  room  with  me; 
but  after  some  time  the  hum  ceased;  next 
I  heard  the  noise  of  artillery  not  far  off.  It  did 
not  last  long,  but  I  recognized  the  tearing  screech 
of  machine  guns.  When  it  was  over,  believing  my- 
self to  be  alone,  I  sought  to  extricate  myself  from 
my  bonds.  The  cords,  however,  were  so  tightly 
fastened  about  my  wrists  that  the  skin  was  torn, 
and  every  efifort  I  made  to  loosen  them  occasioned 
acute  pain.  I  must  have  uttered  a  low  cry,  for  I 
heard  a  voice  I  knew  well  say  mockingly: 

"  Does  it  hurt?  "  And  the  gag  was  removed 
from  my  mouth. 

"  I  thought  I  was  alone,"  answered  I. 

''  We  are  alone — quite  alone,"  said  Neaera. 
*'  Why  don't  you  stick  your  staff  in  the  ground  and 
put  the  cock  under  the  pot?  " 

She  was  so  close  to  ^me  that  I  could  feel  her 

breath  on  my  cheek. 

144 


Neaera's  Idea  of  Diplomacy 

"  Release  my  hands  and  I  will,"  answered  I. 

"Thank  you,  indeed!  Do  you  think  I  have 
had  you  bound  for  that!  " 

"  I  do  not  flatter  myself;  but  as  you  are  dis- 
posed to  chat,  tell  me  what  is  happening." 

She  took  the  band  off  my  eyes  and  looked  be- 
witching as  she  mocked  me: 

"Nothing  is  happening;  and  if  there  were 
something  happening  how  should  I  know  it?  " 

"Who  tampered  with  Chairo's  carriage?" 

I  asked  the  question  suddenly  in  the  hope  that 
I  should  take  her  by  surprise. 

"What  carriage?"  asked  she  with  an  air  of 
innocence,  but  the  color  mounting  to  her  cheek 
betrayed  her. 

"  Chairo  says  some  one  treacherously  tam- 
pered with  his  carriage." 

"  Nonsense,"  answered  Neaera.  "  The  acci- 
dent to  Chairo's  carriage  is  not  the  first  carriage 
accident  in  the  world.  Chairo  is  thinking  only 
of  himself." 

"How  so?" 

"  He  wants  Lydia;  we  want  liberty." 

My  suspicions  were  confirmed. 

"  I  suppose  Chairo  has  made  love  to  you — as 
have  all  the  rest." 

The  dimple  deepened  in  Neaera's  cheek,  but 
145 


The  Demetrian 

she  busied  herself  unfastening  the  cords  that 
bound  my  wrist. 

''  I  am  going  to  give  you  liberty  at  any  rate," 
she  said.  ''  For  I  want  you  to  do  something  for 
me." 

"  Stick  my  stafif  in  the  ground  and  put " 

''No;  I  have  forgiven  you;  it  is  something 
very  different  from  that." 

My  hands  were  free  now,  and  I  stretched  them 
out  in  exquisite  relief. 

"Are  you  a  little  grateful?" 

"  Of  course,  I  am  grateful — but  I  am  still  more 
curious  to  know  what  you  want  me  to  do  for  you." 

"  It  is  very  simple."  She  showed  me  a  sheet 
of  paper  upon  which  was  some  typewriting.  "  I 
want  you  to  sign  this." 

I  put  out  my  hand  to  take  the  paper  and  read 
the  writing. 

"  Oh,  no!  "  she  cried,  putting  the  paper  behind 
her  back.  "  I  want  you  to  sign  without  reading." 
She  looked  at  me  with  a  smile  which  she  meant 
to  be  irresistible;  and,  assuredly,  to  most  men  the 
temptation  would  have  been  great — for  the  smile 
said  plainly  that  acquiescence  would  have  its  full 
reward. 

I  had  unloosed  the  cords  about  my  feet  and 
was  standing  in  front  of  her  irresolute;  not  wish- 

146 


Neaera's  Idea  of  Diplomacy 

ing  to  make  an  enemy  of  her  by  a  downright 
refusal,  for  I  did  not  know  what  confederates 
might  be  within  call  and  yet  half  inclined  to 
snatch  at  the  paper  and  read  it  in  spite  of  her. 
But  I  suspected  that  she  meant  me  to  do  this;  that 
she  shrewdly  guessed  a  playful  struggle  between 
us  would  increase  the  temptation  to  yield  to  her 
beyond  powers  of  resistance. 

As  I  stood  smiling  at  her,  for  the  grace  of  her 
posture— leaning  a  little  forward  and  holding  the 
paper  behind  her  back — disarmed  me,  she  sud- 
denly waved  the  paper  before  me  as  though  in- 
viting me  to  snatch  at  it. 

I  cannot  imagine  what  would  have  been  the 
result  of  this  little  comedy  had  not  a  distant  hum 
from  the  street  suddenly  attracted  our  attention. 
She  ran  to  the  window,  threw  up  the  sash  and, 
taking  up  a  field  glass  that  was  lying  on  the  table, 
looked  down  the  street.  One  glance  was  suffi- 
cient; when  she  turned  back  into  the  room  her 
face  was  blanched;  every  trace  of  coquetry  had 
disappeared;  she  barely  looked  at  me  and  hurried 
from  the  room.  She  locked  the  door  upon  me  as 
she  left.  I  went  to  the  window,  but  on  my  way 
there  picked  up  the  paper  she  had  offered  for  my 
signature  and  which  she  had  dropped  as  she 
picked  up  the  field  glass.    I  was  too  much  inter- 

147 


The  Demetrian 

ested  in  what  was  happening  in  the  street  to  read 
it  then.  I  thrust  it  in  my  wallet  and  saw  without 
the  help  of  the  field  glass  that  the  street  was  full 
of  armed  men  hurrying  to  the  Liberty  building, 
and  upon  their  shoulders  the  badge  of  Demeter — 
a  golden  sheaf  on  a  blue  ground — was  clearly  vis- 
ible. Obviously,  Balbus's  attempt  at  rescue  had 
failed,  and  instead  of  bringing  back  Chairo  in 
triumph  to  the  Liberty  office,  it  was  the  special 
constables  who  were  crowding  to  its  doors.  Soon 
I  heard  a  rush  of  steps  up  the  stairs;  there  was  a 
fumbling  at  the  door;  the  door  was  forced  and 
there  rushed  in  a  number  of  men,  one  of  whom 
recognized  me.  I  explained  the  message  from 
Chairo  which  I  had  brought  to  the  office  of  Lib- 
erty and,  without  mentioning  names,  added  that 
I  had  been  bound  and  imprisoned  there.  The 
cords  in  the  room  and  the  abrasions  on  my  wrists 
confirmed  my  story.  I  promised  to  hold  myself 
at  the  disposal  of  the  investigating  magistrate  and 
was  given  my  liberty. 

The  offices  in  which  I  had  been  confined  were 
searched  and  every  paper  in  them  carefully  col- 
lected. I  betook  myself  at  once  to  the  chambers 
I  shared  with  Ariston,  but  on  the  way  I  took  the 
paper  I  had  been  asked  to  sign  out  of  my  pocket 
and  read  it. 

148 


Neaera's  Idea  of  Diplomacy 

''  Dear  Chairo: 

"  Balbus  has  confined,  bound,  and  gagged  me. 
I  owe  my  freedom  now  to  Neaera,  who  will  see 
that  this  reaches  you.  VERB.  Sap." 

Not  a  word  in  this  interesting  document  was  lit- 
erally false;  and  yet  it  was  obvious  how  falsely 
Neaera  meant  to  use  it. 


149 


CHAPTER   XIII 

NEAERA  MAKES  NEW  ARRANGEMENTS 

NEAERA  left  the  building  in  which  were 
the  Liberty  offices  by  an  entrance  on  a 
street  other  than  that  which  she  had  seen 
threatened  by  the  constables,  and  hurriedly  con- 
sidered where  she  could  find  a  certain  Masters  to 
whom  she  had  always  determined  to  fly  in  case  of 
defeat.  Masters  was  a  man  whose  career  had 
greatly  contributed  to  the  particular  phase  of  Col- 
lectivism which  I  found  prevailing  in  the  New 
England  States.  Originally  the  state  had  under- 
taken to  monopolize  manufacture,  and  for  a  long 
period — over  a  hundred  years — had  succeeded  in 
giving  general  satisfaction.  During  the  first  cen- 
tury of  CoUectivist  existence  so  much  time  was 
spent  in  transforming  cities  that  there  was  no 
leisure  for  individual  enterprise;  indeed,  during 
this  period  the  majority  worked  as  hard  as  they 
had  ever  worked  under  the  competitive  regime; 
for  although  a  half-day's  labor  only  was  exacted 
to  earn  a  full  share  in  the  national  income,  an- 

150 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

other  half-day's  labor  was  asked  and  freely  given 
to  make  those  changes  in  the  cities   and  towns 
which  were  obviously  necessary  under  the  new 
regime.     And  a  certain  exchange  of  occupation 
had  taken  place,  masons  and  carpenters  working 
all   day  at  their  respective  trades,   while  others 
worked  all  day  at  theirs,  extra  wages  being  paid 
for  extra  work;  these  extra  wages  were  applicable 
to  the  purchase  of  luxuries,  the  most  laborious  and 
the  most  thrifty  thus  reaping  the  reward  of  their 
labor    and   thrift.     When,    however,    the    cities, 
towns,  and  villages  had  been  so  converted  as  to 
furnish  practically  equivalent  lodging  to  all,  un- 
der conditions  that  were  wholesome  and  with  due 
regard   to   the    demand    for   the   beautiful    that, 
though  expressed  in  my  time  only  by  a  few,  is  in 
fact  latent  in  us  all,  there  was  no  longer  the  same 
imperious  call  for  extra  labor  on  the  part  of  the 
state,  and  the  leisure  enjoyed  in  consequence  was 
soon  employed  in  a  manner  not  anticipated  by 
socialists  of  my  day.    And  Masters  had  been  the 
first  to  inaugurate  the  new  system.     It  happened 
in  this  way: 

The  state  had  exposed  itself  to  much  criticism 
as  to  many  of  the  things  furnished  by  its  factories 
and  when  Masters  was  still  a  youth  of  twenty-five 
years,  the  complaint  on  this  subject  became  so 

151 


The  Demetrian 

wide-spread  that  he  set  himself  to  correcting  the 
evil.  He  was  employed  in  a  wall-paper  factory, 
and  wall  paper  was  just  one  of  the  articles  that 
had  given  rise  to  the  greatest  dissatisfaction;  so 
one  day  when  an  artistic  friend  was  mocking  at 
the  work  the  state  factory  turned  out,  Masters 
suggested  that  they  should  get  a  few  others  to  join 
them  in  setting  up  a  factory  of  their  own.  The 
experiment  Vv^as  looked  upon  at  first  as  a  piece  of 
innocent  child's  play,  but  when  some  hundred 
young  men  and  women  actually  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing a  wall  paper  so  preferable  to  that  manu- 
factured by  the  state  that  theirs  alone  was  pur- 
chased and  the  state  had  to  shut  down  some  of  the 
government  mills,  the  question  of  the  right  of  in- 
dividuals to  compete  with  the  state  was  brought 
up  in  the  legislature,  and  the  issue  became  suffi- 
ciently serious  to  drive  Masters  into  politics  for 
the  purpose  of  defending  what  came  to  be  known 
as  "  Liberty  of  Industry." 

The  principal  argument  made  against  this  so- 
called  liberty  of  industry  was  that  Masters  and 
his  fellow-workers  were  becoming  rich.  The 
money  that  formerly  was  paid  to  the  state  factory 
was  now  paid  to  them,  and  thus  the  accumulation 
of  wealth  became  possible  which  it  was  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  Collectivism  to  prevent.    In  vain 

152 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

Masters  argued  that  they  applied  their  leisure  to 
the  manufacture  of  wall  paper  not  in  order  to  be- 
come rich,  but  in  order  to  have  paper  that  suited 
their  taste;  that  the  real  value  of  Collectivism  was 
to  provide  all  men  with  the  necessaries  of  life  so 
as  not  to  subject  poor  men  to  a  few  rich;  that  so 
long  as  the  state  provided  necessaries  against  a 
stipulated  amount  of  labor  it  was  quite  immaterial 
whether  a  few  chose  by  voluntary  labor  to  pro- 
vide an  article  that  was  needed  and  incidentally 
increase  their  own  wealth;  and  that  such  volun- 
tary labor  benefited  all.  The  cry  against  accumu- 
lation was  too  powerful  to  be  silenced,  and  Mas- 
ters felt  some  concession  must  be  made  to  it;  so 
he  consented  to  a  proposition  that  all  state  money 
should  have  purchasing  power  only  during  a 
period  of  two  years;  under  this  system  hoarding 
or  accumulation  would  be  prevented,  because 
every  two  years  the  money  so  hoarded  would  be- 
come valueless — all  money  being  paper  and  bear- 
ing a  date,  gold  being  used  only  by  the  state  in 
foreign  trade. 

This  compromise  was  adopted,  and  the  efifect 
of  it  was  to  give  an  immense  impulse  to  private 
industry.  While  the  question  was  being  discussed 
few  were  willing  to  embark  on  an  enterprise  that 
might  be  declared  illegal  and  be  appropriated  by 

153 


The  Demetrian 

the  state.  As  soon,  however,  as  private  enterprise 
was  indirectly  sanctioned  by  the  passage  of  this 
law  it  became  clear  that  any  individual  might 
devote  his  leisure  to  the  production  of  anything 
not  satisfactorily  produced  by  the  state,  and  the 
result  of  this  new  departure  was  considerable,  for 
it  not  only  greatly  increased  the  total  wealth  of 
the  community  but  it  stimulated  the  state  to  main- 
tain and  improve  standards  of  manufacture,  con- 
tributing all  that  is  good  in  competition  without 
tolerating  those  features  of  oppression  and  pau- 
perism which  had  made  competition  so  evil  in 
our  day. 

And  Masters  became  a  great  man  in  the  com- 
munity; for  not  only  was  he  regarded  as  the 
author  of  private  enterprise,  but  possessing  the 
powers  of  organization  and  the  judgment  in  se- 
lecting his  fellow-workers  essential  to  success,  he 
soon  became  the  head  of  numerous  enterprises; 
and  although  he  was  unable  at  first  to  accumulate 
wealth  in  the  shape  of  money,  he  did  accumu- 
late it  in  the  shape  of  products  of  manufacture. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  he  could  not  accumulate 
it  in  the  shape  of  money  and  that  there  was  a 
limit  to  his  power  to  accumulate  it  in  the  shape 
of  products  of  manufacture,  drove  him  to  distrib- 
ute  his   earnings    among   his    neighbors   with    a 

154 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

prodigality  so  lavish  that,  possessing  a  naturally 
generous  heart  and  an  attractive  manner,  he  be- 
came a  man  of  enormous — some  men  said  undue — • 
influence  in  the  state.  Recently,  too,  owing  to  the 
establishment  of  a  banking  system,  accumulation 
in  private  money  became  possible. 

Masters  had  never  married.  His  interests 
were  so  various  and  engrossing  that  he  had  not 
felt  the  need  of  a  wife.  Nor  was  he  ever  at  a  loss 
for  a  companion;  the  bath  was  his  club;  and  a 
short  evening — for  he  was  an  early  riser — was 
comfortably  spent  in  the  society  of  those  with 
whom  he  dined  at  the  common  table.  But  he  was 
by  no  means  insensible  to  feminine  charm,  and 
Neaera  had  not  ineffectually  aired  her  graces  for 
his  benefit. 

Neaera  had  often  decided  that  Masters  was 
the  best  match  in  the  country  and  had  schemed  to 
secure  him;  but  she  was  aware  of  his  sagacity  and 
had  so  far  refrained  from  any  overture  that  might 
alienate  him.  She  had,  however,  never  failed  to 
improve  an  opportunity  for  displaying  her  attrac- 
tions in  his  presence,  taking  care  to  keep  re- 
ligiously away  from  him  at  such  times  lest  he 
should  guess  the  plot  that  lay  at  the  bottom  of  all 
her  performances.  On  more  serious  occasions  she 
had  had  long  and  confidential  conversations  with 

^55 


The  Demetrian 

him,  chiefly  on  political  subjects ;  she  had  indeed 
been  one  of  his  political  lieutenants,  but  when  en- 
gaged in  politics  she  had  studiously  avoided  the 
slightest  symptoms  of  coquetry.  Masters,  on  the 
contrary,  had  often  allowed  her  to  feel  that  he 
would  gladly  have  made  their  relations  more  in- 
timate. She  had  seen  the  big  fish  rise — a  little 
lazily,  it  is  true — at  her  cast;  she  had  felt  that 
upon  a  sufficiently  dramatic  occasion  she  could 
land  him;  and  now  it  satisfied  her  sense  of  antith- 
esis that  so  signal  a  defeat  as  that  of  her  party 
that  day  might  be  converted  by  her  skill  into  an 
individual  victory. 

It  was  about  four  in  the  afternoon — the  hour 
when  Masters  should  be  leaving  his  office  for  his 
apartment.  If  she  walked  in  the  direction  of  the 
latter  he  would  possibly  overtake  her;  she  did  not 
wish  to  go  to  him;  she  preferred  to  meet  him 
accidentally;  it  would  not  do  for  him  to  imagine 
she  had  counted  on  him.  She  walked,  therefore, 
slowly  and  with  a  pretty  air  of  concern  along  the 
street  he  usually  took,  wondering  whether  she 
would  be  favored  by  fortune  before  the  arrest 
which  she  knew  was  being  prepared  for  her.  She 
felt  that  the  events  of  the  day  would  be  likely 
to  change  the  daily  routine,  even  of  so  methodical 
a  man  as  Masters,  and  was  beginning  to  fear  she 

156 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

would  have  to  take  refuge  in  his  apartment,  when 
she  heard  a  step  overtaking  her,  and  to  her  great 
relief  his  big  voice  said: 

"Why,  Neaera,  what  are  you  doing  here?  I 
thought  you  were  in  the  thick  of  it?  " 

Neaera  looked  up  shyly  and  then  down  again. 

"  I  am  afraid  all  is  over,"  she  said  very  low. 

"  And  where  are  you  going?  " 

''  I  don't  know." 

"  Is  there  any  fear  of  arrest?  " 

Neaera  brewed  up  a  tear  and  cast  an  appeal- 
ing glance  at  him.  She  was  one  of  those  fortu- 
nate and  dangerous  women  who  could  summon 
a  tear  to  her  eye  without  at  the  same  time  bring- 
ing blood  to  her  nose  and  eyelids. 

"  You  must  step  into  my  apartment  until  we 
can  take  precautions,"  he  said. 

*'  I'm  afraid  I'll  compromise  you." 

''  Compromise  me\  "  exclaimed  Master,  *'  nev- 
er in  the  world!  And  as  for  yow,  I'll  send  for 
your  mother." 

"Will  you,  indeed?"  said  Neaera,  edging  a 
little  closer  to  him ;  but  she  did  not  mean  that  he 
should  do  this. 

They  were  at  his  door  then;  and  touching  her 
lightly  on  the  elbow  he  guided  her  past  the  por- 
ter's lodge,  up  the  staircase  and  into  his  rooms. 

157 


The  Demetrian 

Masters  bade  her  sit  down  and  tell  him  how 
matters  stood.  Neaera  took  care  that  her  version 
of  the  story  should,  by  keeping  herself  in  the 
shade,  throw  the  whole  responsibility  on  Chairo 
and  Balbus.  Masters,  however,  plied  her  with 
questions  which  she  parried  with  skill.  At  last 
Masters  exclaimed: 

''  But  you  are  blameless  in  the  matter;  they 
cannot  mean  to  arrest  you;  and  if  they  do,  you 
will  be  immediately  released." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  answered  Neaera,  ^*  you  are 
inclined  to  believe  others  as  frank  and  generous 
as  yourself." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Masters,  a  little  un- 
comfortable under  the  flattery  implied  in  Neaera's 
words — for  he  liked  neither  flattery  nor  those  who 
used  it. 

"  I  have  not  lived  very  long,"  said  she,  "  but 
I  have  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  failure 
brings  discord  between  the  best  of  friends.  I  have 
believed  that  we  could  effect  our  reforms  best 
through  constitutional  measures;  and  the  very 
fact  that  I  have  been  right  will  unite  them  all 
against  me  now.  Of  course  I  have  done  a  great 
deal  of  the  writing — generally  at  the  dictation  of 
others";  Neaera,  as  she  said  this,  congratulated 
herself  on  having  utilized  the  absence  of  all  from 

158 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

the  offices  except  herself  in  destroying  every  shred 
of  paper  that  could  compromise  her,  and  even 
fabricating  some  that  would  exonerate  her.  She 
paused  a  little,  and  then  went  on:  "I  don't  even 
know  who  has  survived  the  disaster;  some  of  them 
I  could  trust  to  the  end;  but  others  are  capable 
of  any  treachery.  And  then  mamma  " — Neaera's 
chin  twitched  a  little — "  mamma  does  not  know 
how  far  I  am  involved  in  the  matter — and  she  is 
so  alone " 

And  here  Neaera's  grief  became  uncontrob 
lable;  she  jumped  up  from  her  chair  and  burst 
into  a  flood  of  tears.  As  she  stood  there,  her  face 
in  her  hands  and  her  soft  and  rounded  figure 
convulsed  by  sobs,  compassion  filled  the  heart  of 
Masters;  all  his  nascent  fondness  for  her  sud- 
denly burst  into  a  flame;  he  went  to  her,  took  her 
by  the  shoulders,  and  said: 

"  Don't  cry,  Neaera;  I  am  very  fond  of  you; 
it  hurts  me  to  see  you  cry;  tell  me  about  it;  let 
me  help  you;  I  can  help  you  and  I  will — if  you 
will  let  me." 

As  he  ejaculated  these  sentences  he  gently 
pressed  her  shoulders  to  give  emphasis  to  them; 
and  Neaera  yielded  to  his  pressure,  so  that  at  the 
end  she  was  very  close  to  him  and  her  bowed  head 
rested  against  his  breast. 

159 


The  Demetrian 

When  Masters  felt  the  pressure  of  her  head 
against  him,  a  rush  of  love  for  her  passed  beyond 
his  control.  Looking  down  at  her  he  observed  the 
delicate  whorl  of  a  small  ear  like  a  pink  shell  and 
a  soft  neck  so  inviting  that,  bending  his  own  head, 
he  pressed  his  lips  against  it. 

Neaera  burst  away  from  him  and  threw  her- 
self upon  a  chair. 

"  Masters,  Masters,"  she  said  reproachfully, 
"  you  should  not  have  done  that!  " 

He  had  often  heard  stories  of  Neaera  to  her 
disadvantage  and  at  that  culminating  moment  her 
reproach  became  a  conviction  in  him  that  those 
stories  were  false.  She  was  looking  at  him  now 
with  tearful  eyes  wide  open;  Masters  felt  con- 
trite; he  had  taken  advantage  of  her  at  a  time 
when  she  was  at  his  mercy;  of  a  woman,  too, 
whose  talents  and  conspicuousness  had  made  of 
her  a  mark  for  envy  and  malice;  she  was  down 
now;  anyone  could  hurl  a  stone  at  her;  she  had 
thrown  herself  upon  his  generosity,  and  he  had 
responded  by  insulting  her.  There  was  only  one 
reparation  he  could  make,  and  that  reparation  his 
heart  was  already  urging  him  to  make. 

He  threw  himself  on  one  knee  by  the  side  of 
Neaera  as  she  sat,  put  both  his  arms  on  her  lap,  and 
looking  straight  into  her  reproachful  eyes,  said: 

i6o 


Neaera  Makes  New  Arrangements 

"  Only  one  thing  could  have  justified  it;  I  love 
you,  Neaera;  have  indeed  loved  you  long " 

Neaera  bowed  her  head  and  said  nothing. 

There  was  a  long  pause.  But  Neaera  allowed 
him  to  remain  there,  very  close  to  her,  with  his 
arms  upon  her  lap.  Then  Masters  moved  his 
head  slowly  nearer  to  her  until  it  rested  on  her 
bosom.  And  Neaera  folded  her  soft  round  arms 
about  his  neck. 


i6i 


CHAPTER   XIV 

"  I  CONSENTED  " 

WHEN  I  reached  our  chambers  I  found 
them  empty.  At  the  bath,  however, 
though  Ariston  was  not  there  I  learned 
the  incidents  of  the  day.  Almost  immediately 
after  my  interview  with  Balbus  he  had  headed  the 
attempt  to  rescue  Chairo;  it  had  been  carefully 
planned,  for  exactly  at  three  o'clock  there  con- 
verged upon  the  House  of  Detention  from  every 
side  no  less  than  six  different  lines  of  attack,  which 
took  shape  only  within  a  few  yards  of  the  house 
itself,  so  as  to  avoid  conflicts  at  points  other  than 
the  one  upon  which  the  attack  was  concentrated. 
But  the  cult  had  taken  precautions.  Some  ma- 
chine guns  had  been  put  into  position  and  Balbus 
and  his  followers  were  blown  out  of  existence, 
leaving  a  mass  of  wounded  men  and  but  few 
unwounded  survivors.  The  constables  that  day 
sworn  in  had  at  once  repaired  to  the  Liberty  of- 
fices where  I  had  met  them.  Ariston  was  doubt- 
less at  that  moment  conferring  with  Chairo  and 

162 


"I   Consented" 

the  authorities  as  to  how  far  this  act  of  violence 
was  to  afifect  the  procedure. 

Ariston  did  not  appear  at  our  chambers  until 
after  midnight,  and  he  was  then  so  weary  that  I 
did  not  press  him  for  details.  He  informed  me, 
however,  that  my  message  to  Balbus  would  prob- 
ably constitute  the  pivotal  fact  in  his  defense  of 
Chairo;  that  Balbus  was  shot  to  pieces;  and  that 
the  question  whether  Chairo  was  to  be  kept  in  con- 
finement would  probably  be  heard  within  a  week. 

The  next  morning  Ariston  had  a  long  confer- 
ence with  me  over  the  whole  situation,  which  was 
a  complicated  one.  The  courts,  though  fair,  were 
undoubtedly  strongly  Demetrian  in  their  ten- 
dencies, and  Ariston  did  not  believe  they  would 
set  Chairo  at  liberty;  but  he  felt  it  his  duty  as 
Chairo's  counsel  to  make  the  effort.  Ariston  did 
not  conceal  from  me,  however,  his  conviction  that 
Chairo  was  insisting  on  the  effort  being  made 
in  order  to  use  the  decision  of  the  courts  on  the 
political  arena,  where  the  issue  must  be  ultimately 
decided.  He,  Ariston,  doubted  the  wisdom  of  his 
appearing  as  Chairo's  counsel  under  the  circum- 
stances, for  on  the  political  issue  Ariston  would 
fight  Chairo  to  a  finish,  and  Chairo  knew  this. 
But  Chairo  had  declined  to  release  Ariston.  He 
claimed  that  Ariston  having  offered   to  act  for 

163 


The  Demetrian 

him,  and  he  having  accepted  the  ofifer,  Ariston 
was  no  longer  free  to  withdraw  except  for  better 
reason  than  he  could  give. 

The  importance  of  the  testimony  I  could  give, 
and  the  fact  that  I  was  a  lawyer  admitted  me  into 
all  the  conferences  that  were  held.  Chairo's  case 
was  to  come  up  on  habeas  corpus,  and  I  undertook 
to  prepare  an  affidavit  as  to  the  message  sent 
through  me  by  Chairo  to  Balbus.  In  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  affidavit  I  was  confronted  with  the 
question  whether  it  was  necessary  to  introduce 
Neaera's  name;  there  was  in  me  a  strong  repug- 
nance to  doing  so.  If  by  involving  Neaera  I 
could  save  an  innocent  man  I  should  have  been 
guilty  in  omitting  her  intervention  in  my  inter- 
view with  Balbus;  but  the  only  person  that  to  my 
mind  could  be  affected  by  her  intervention  was 
Balbus,  and  Balbus  was  dead.  Nor  would  his 
memory  gain  much  by  testimony  that  would  tend 
to  prove  that  the  incriminating  act  was  done  at 
the  bidding  of  a  woman. 

Three  days  after  Chairo's  arrest  I  was  still 
hesitating  over  this  question  when  I  received  a 
message  from  Masters  asking  for  an  interview.  I 
readily  accorded  one,  and  we  met  in  Chairo's 
chambers  which  were  put  at  my  disposal  during 
his  detention. 

164 


^'I   Consented" 

Masters  opened  the  conversation  by  telling  me 
confidentially  that  Neaera  had  promised  to  marry 
him,  and  that  he  was  naturally,  therefore,  anxious 
to  exonerate  her  from  responsibility  as  regarded 
the  rash  attempt  at  rescue.  I  let  him  speak  pre- 
ferring to  hold  my  tongue  till  I  learned  the  story 
Neaera  had  told  him.  He  admitted  that  Neaera 
had  taken  a  strong  stand  in  favor  of  Chairo  and 
all  that  Chairo  stood  for,  but  explained  the  enor- 
mous difference  between  constitutional  opposition 
and  appeal  to  force.  Neaera  had  told  him  that 
no  word  of  writing  that  she  could  remember — 
save  such  as  might  have  been  written  at  the  dic- 
tation of  others — could  possibly  compromise  her, 
but  that  she  did  not  know  how  far  some  of  the 
survivors  might  not  seek  to  escape  punishment  by 
throwing  responsibility  on  her.  Neaera  had  par- 
ticularly asked  Masters  to  see  me  and  find  out  how 
far  this  was  to  be  feared. 

I  recognized  the  fine  work  of  our  astute  friend 
in  the  story  told  by  Masters,  and  anxious  to  know 
just  how  far  Masters  was  committed  to  Neaera,  I 
asked : 

"  When  do  you  expect  to  be  married?  " 
Masters  lowered  his  voice  as  he  answered: 
*'  Confidentially,  we  are  already  married.     I 
found  her  wandering  aimlessly  about  the  street 

165 


The  Demetrian 

expecting  arrest;  so  I  took  her  at  once  to  Wash- 
ington and  married  her  there.  I  have  left  her 
among  friends  in  a  neighboring  state  till  this  mat- 
ter blows  over." 

The  marriage  having  taken  place,  there  vs^as 
clearly  no  duty  upon  me  to  enlighten  Masters,  so 
I  said  to  him: 

"  Assure  Neaera  from  me  that  I  shall  keep 
you  informed  of  how  matters  move  and  particu- 
larly if  any  witness  testifies  in  a  manner  to  com- 
promise her.  No  such  testimony  has  been  given 
as  yet  to  my  knowledge — but  then,  none  of  the 
survivors  of  the  rescue  party  have  yet  been  ex- 
amined." 

I  worded  my  answer  in  a  manner  to  reassure 
Neaera  so  far  as  I  myself  was  concerned  and  Mas- 
ters left  me  satisfied.  He  deserved  sympathy,  at 
any  rate. 

Ariston  was  extremely  busy  endeavoring  to 
obtain  affidavits  from  the  survivors  as  to  Chairo's 
non-complicity  in  the  attack,  and  asked  me  there- 
fore to  see  Lydia  and  explain  to  her  the  impor- 
tance of  silence  at  this  juncture.  Accordingly  I 
went  to  see  her  and  found  Aunt  Tiny  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement.  Lydia  was  ill  and  her  mother 
was  with  her.  Aunt  Tiny  wanted  to  take  the 
whole  matter  on  her  shoulders. 

i66 


"I   Consented" 

"  Lydia  will  do  just  what  I  tell  her  to  do," 
assured  Aunt  Tiny,  nodding  her  curls  gravely  at 
me. 

"  I  think  I  ought  to  see  Lydia  myself  if  it  can 
be  managed,"  I  answered. 

"  But  she  is  so  ill."  Her  lisp  was  childish  and 
I  unconsciously  smiled  a  little.  My  smile  put  the 
little  woman  in  quite  a  flutter. 

*'  I'll  manage  it,"  she  said  confidently.  "  You'll 
see;  I'll  manage  it";  and  the  busy  little  body,  in 
spite  of  her  age,  tripped  out  of  the  room. 

Presently  she  returned  radiant.  "  It's  all 
right,"  she  said.  "You  can  come;  I  told  you  I 
should  manage  it " ;  and  she  showed  me  to  Lydia's 
room. 

Lydia  was  lying  on  a  couch  with  a  shawl 
thrown  over  her  knees;  but  the  chiton  loosely 
fastened  over  her  right  shoulder  showed  all  the 
beauty  of  her  bare  arm.  Very  different,  indeed, 
did  she  look  from  the  girl  I  awoke  to  find  bend- 
ing over  me  on  the  hill  on  Tyringham.  The  warm 
color  of  the  sun  had  left  her  skin,  which  was  now 
white  and  extremely  delicate.  Her  head,  then 
strong  and  erect,  now  leaned  upon  a  pillow  so 
gently  that  it  seemed 

"  A  petal  of  blown  roses  on  the  grass." 
167 


The  Demetrian 

Her  mother  was  standing  as  I  entered  and  pushed 
a  chair  for  me  by  Lydia's  side.  I  sat  upon  it,  and 
taking  Lydia's  hand,  kissed  it.  A  tear  came  in 
her  eye  at  this  act  of  sympathy  and  she  said: 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  come  to  see  me." 

"  I  would  not  have  dared  to  come,"  said  I, 
"  were  it  not  that  I  have  to  warn  you  in  Chairo's 
interest  and  in  your  own  to  say  nothing  for  the 
present." 

"Say  nothing!"  she  exclaimed,  raising  her 
head  erect.  "What!  does  Chairo  wish  me  to  say 
nothing  when  I  can  by  a  word  exonerate  him  al- 
together!" 

"  How  so?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  consented,"  she  said.  "  If  the  charge  is 
that  he  carried  me  away  it  must  fall  when  I  say 
that  I  consented." 

"Lydia!"  exclaimed  her  mother.  "Do  be 
careful!  Our  friend  here  can  be  depended  on; 
but  such  an  admission  might  be  used  against  you; 
it  may  be  no  crime  in  law  to  have  consented,  but 
in  the  cult  you  will  be  disgraced  forever." 

"  Then  may  I  be  disgraced,"  said  Lydia  de- 
spondingly.  "  I  did  consent;  and  Chairo  must 
not  suffer  the  odium  of  having  carried  me  off 
against  my  will.  Besides,"  added  she,  erect 
again,  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  having  consented.    I 

i68 


"I   Consented" 

love  Chairo.  I  am  ready  to  declare  it  before  the 
world.  I  was  wrong  when  I  accepted  the  mission 
and  those  around  me  should  have  known  it.  Not 
you,  mother,"  added  Lydia,  as  she  saw  her  mother 
start,  "not  you,  but  the  priests  —  they  should 
have  known  it — they  did  know  it — and  yet  they 
allowed  me  to  accept  the  mission,  loving  Chairo." 

Lydia  put  out  her  arms  to  her  mother,  who 
bent  over  and  kissed  her. 

"  The  time  will  doubtless  come,"  said  I, 
''  when  you  will  be  able  to  vindicate  Chairo.  But 
at  this  moment  I  think,  perhaps,  it  may  be  wiser 
to  say  nothing.  Chairo  does  not  wish  to  be  re- 
leased. He  wants  the  court  to  decide  against 
him.  Such  a  decision  will  constitute  a  grievance 
which  will  to  his  mind  strengthen  his  cause  with 
the  people.  I  don't  know,"  I  added,  smiling, 
"  whether  I  am  altogether  on  his  side  upon  all 
the  political  issues  he  stands  for;  but  I  am  on 
your  side,  Lydia.  I  want  you  to  be  happy,  and 
much  depends  upon  the  circumstances  under 
which  your  declaration  is  made.  At  this  moment 
it  may  be  wiser  to  keep  silence;  they  cannot  com- 
pel you  to  testify  until  Chairo  is  tried,  and  he 
proposes  to  postpone  the  trial,  if  he  can,  until  the 
legislature  meets.  Masters  is  taking  a  vigorous 
stand  in  favor  of  Chairo,  and  he  may  carry  a  suffi- 

169 


The  Demetrian 

cient  number  of  votes  to  constitute  a  radical  ma- 
jority. Up  to  the  present  time  Masters  has  voted 
upon  most  issues  with  the  government." 

Lydia  listened  to  me  with  her  long  blue-gray 
eyes  fixed  on  mine.  It  was  a  luxury  to  look  into 
them.  I  thought  I  was  no  longer  in  love  with 
her,  but  there  was  a  fascination  in  those  eyes  to 
which  it  was  a  delight  innocently  to  surrender. 

"  Chairo  is  doubtless  right,"  she  said,  "  and 
you  too." 

''  The  priests  will  probably  ask  you  for  a  dec- 
laration; you  are  ill  enough  to  make  illness  an 
excuse  for  keeping  out  of  the  case  altogether.  My 
advice  is  not  to  antagonize  them  at  this  moment. 
You  can  let  them  know  that  you  propose  to  make 
no  affidavit  whatever,  neither  on  one  side  nor  on 
the  other — at  present." 


170 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE  HIGH  PRIEST  OF  DEMETER 

THE  affidavits  read  before  the  court  by 
both  sides  brought  out  the  facts  of  the 
case  in  a  manner  to  leave  no  doubt  in  a 
reasonable  mind  as  to  Chairo's  guilt.  It  was  true 
that  the  person  who  actually  forced  the  gate  of 
the  cloister  and  overpowered  the  janitor  remained 
unknown,  but  Chairo  had  been  arrested  in  the 
act  of  flight  and  in  the  company  of  Lydia,  whose 
capture  was  the  only  possible  motive  for  the  act. 
Then,  too,  on  the  evening  that  preceded  the  cap- 
ture a  typewritten  message  had  been  received  by 
the  high  priest  of  the  cult  informing  him  that 
Chairo's  carriage  would  that  night  break  down 
upon  a  certain  road,  and  that  the  cult  would  have 
an  interest  in  watching  the  event.  Clearly,  there- 
fore, the  capture  had  been  planned  by  Chairo. 
Then,  too,  for  every  affidavit  read  by  Ariston  to 
prove  that  the  attack  on  the  House  of  Detention 
had  been  arranged  as  well  as  executed  by  Balbus 
a  dozen  affidavits  were   read  by  the  other  side 

171 


The  Demetrian 

showing  the  preparations  for  violence  that  had 
been  made  by  Chairo  prior  to  the  carrying  off  of 
Lydia.  The  only  question  that  the  court  had  to 
decide  was,  whether  Chairo's  immunity  from  im- 
prisonment as  a  member  of  the  legislature  applied 
to  his  case;  obviously  he  was  an  accessory  to  the 
crime  after  as  well  as  before  the  fact,  even  though 
he  were  not  guilty  of  the  crime  itself;  and  he  was 
caught  in  the  very  act  of  carrying  out  the  object 
for  which  the  crime  was  committed — that  is  to 
say,  the  placing  of  Lydia  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  cult.  But  Ariston  argued  that  there  was  no 
obligation  upon  the  court  to  hold  Chairo;  the 
matter  under  the  peculiar  conditions  which  pre- 
sented themselves  was  practically  left  to  their 
discretion;  and  he  appealed  to  them  to  liberate 
Chairo  lest  he  should  use  his  imprisonment  as  an 
argument  before  the  higher  tribunal  of  public 
opinion,  to  which  the  question  must  ultimately  be 
referred.  The  court  adjourned  without  render- 
ing a  decision;  and  it  was  later  arranged  that 
Lydia  be  removed  from  New  York  and  Chairo 
released  on  parole  not  to  leave  the  city  limits  until 
the  trial  of  his  case. 

Lydia,  therefore,  was  taken  to  the  Pater's  farm 
at  Tyringham;  and  I  gladly  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  join  the  party  there,  which  included  Aris- 

172 


The  High  Priest  of  Demeter 

ton,  Anna  of  Ann,  the  high  priest  of  the  cult,  and 
a  few  others. 

I  was  much  interested  to  learn  there  the  par- 
ticular form  of  Collectivism  which  prevailed  in 
the  country  districts  of  New  England.  The  land, 
it  is  true,  technically  belonged  to  the  state,  but 
the  enjoyment  of  it  had  never  been  taken  from 
those  farmers  who  were  able  and  willing  to  pay 
to  the  state  the  amount  of  produce  exacted  by  it. 
Assessors  periodically  visited  every  district  to  de- 
termine what  crops  the  land  was  best  fitted  to 
produce,  and  what  amount  of  the  designated  crop 
the  occupying  farmer  should  pay  the  state.  The 
farmer  was  not  bound  to  grow  the  particular  crop 
designated,  unless  a  shortage  in  a  preceding  year 
obliged  the  state  to  require  a  quota  of  the  desig- 
nated crop.  He  was  free  to  furnish  the  state  some 
other  crop  according  to  a  fixed  scale,  the  bushel 
of  wheat  constituting  the  standard — a  bushel  of 
wheat  being  equivalent  to  so  much  hay,  so  many 
pounds  of  potatoes,  etc.  But  the  farmer  generally 
grew  enough  of  the  particular  crop  designated 
to  furnish  the  amount  required.  The  state  sug- 
gested the  best  rotation  of  crops  and  the  farmer 
was  left  a  certain  choice. 

The  working  of  the  system  was  to  eliminate 
173 


The  Demetrian 

all  the  incapable  farmers,  leaving  upon  the  land 
only  the  most  capable.  The  eliminated  were  put 
to  other  employments.  The  surviving  fit  gener- 
ally enjoyed  an  enviable  existence;  for  the  ex- 
actions of  the  state  w^ere  not  exorbitant,  and  it 
had  become  a  rule  that  no  farmer  should  ever  be 
deprived  of  a  farm  so  long  as  he  paid  the  state 
contribution;  thus,  the  state  contribution  was 
practically  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  state  tax. 
The  Pater  had  succeeded  to  his  farm  from  his 
father,  who  himself  had  succeeded  to  his,  so  that 
the  same  land  had  remained  in  the  same  family 
since  our  day.  There  was  no  limitation  of  hours 
of  work  on  the  farm.  The  occupation  was  re- 
garded as  so  desirable  that  farm  laborers  will- 
ingly gave  their  whole  time;  for  during  the  sum- 
mer their  life  was  enlivened  by  the  arrival  of  city 
dwellers,  who  occupied  the  colony  buildings  ad- 
jacent in  the  neighborhood;  and  in  the  depth  of 
the  winter,  when  the  sporting  season  was  over, 
every  farm  laborer  had  his  two  or  three  months 
in  town.  The  owner  of  the  farm,  for  so  every 
farmer  was  still  called,  supported  his  own  la- 
borers and  supplied  them  with  money  for  their 
annual  city  vacation.  His  own  wants,  including 
the  wages  paid  to  the  laborer,  were  supplied  by 
the  sale  to  the  state  of  the  farm  produce  over  and 

174 


The  High  Priest  of  Demeter 

above  that  required  by  the  state  for  rent.  The 
essential  Collectivist  feature  of  the  system  con- 
sisted in  the  fact  that  no  man  was  obliged  by  the 
necessity  of  earning  wages  to  work  upon  a  farm. 
He  could  always  refuse  to  work  for  a  farmer  by 
taking  work  from  the  state.  Only  those  farmers 
who  knew  how  to  make  their  farms  not  only  pros- 
perous but  attractive,  could  secure  laborers,  the  re- 
lation between  a  farmer  and  his  hands  being  that 
of  man  to  man  rather  than  that  of  employer  to 
employee.  Indeed,  it  was  the  security  every  man 
and  woman  had  of  employment  by  the  state  that 
had  caused  pauperism  and  prostitution  to  disap- 
pear; and  with  them  the  dependence  of  one  class 
upon  another.  In  agriculture,  as  in  manufac- 
ture, employment  of  one  individual  by  another 
was  a  matter  of  inclination,  not  of  compulsion; 
and  under  these  circumstances  every  employer 
took  care  to  make  his  employment  agreeable  and 
to  share  equitably  with  his  fellow-workers  the 
product  of  their  joint  labors. 

As  soon  as  the  hearing  of  habeas  corpus  pro- 
ceedings were  concluded  and  Lydia  was  trans- 
ported to  Tyringham  she  rapidly  gained  health. 
Chairo  wrote  to  her  daily  the  progress  of  his 
preparations  for  the  legislature,  which  was  to 
meet  in  a  few  days.    He  was  assured  of  Masters's 

175 


The  Demetrian 

support  in  favor  of  a  bill  of  amnesty  to  all  en- 
gaged in  the  carrying  off  of  Lydia  and  the  attack 
on  the  House  of  Detention,  and  this  bill  would 
constitute  the  first  business  to  be  brought  before 
the  Assembly.  An  identical  bill  would  be  intro- 
duced in  the  Senate,  and  eflforts  were  being  made 
at  once  to  secure  the  approval  of  the  governor. 

Meanwhile  we  often  had  leisure  at  Tyring- 
ham  for  the  discussion  of  the  Demetrian  cult, 
which  had  given  rise  to  so  great  a  tumult.  The 
day  that  the  high  priest  received  intelligence  of 
the  proposed  amnesty  bill  I  asked  him  his  views 
regarding  it. 

The  high  priest  was  a  tall,  aged  man,  closely 
shaven — as  indeed  were  all  the  priests — and  very 
slow  and  distinct  in  his  way  of  speaking.  Though 
he  occupied  the  highest  function  in  the  cult  he 
was  by  no  means  its  controlling  will.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Demetrian  council  was  composed  al- 
most entirely  of  women,  that  is  to  say,  priestesses; 
but  it  had  passed  into  a  tradition  that  in  order 
to  avoid  too  great  animosity  on  the  part  of  the 
men,  these  last  should  be  permitted  a  representa- 
tion on  the  council  and  the  presiding  officer  and 
the  head  of  the  cult  should  be  a  man. 

The  high  priest  answered  my  question  with 
his  usual  deliberation  and  care: 

176 


The  High  Priest  of  Demeter 

''  I  cannot  tell  you  what  my  own  views  regard- 
ing this  matter  are;  the  subject  will  be  discussed 
by  the  council  and  its  argument  presented  in  due 
time  by  its  representative  in  the  legislature,  but 
I  can  tell  you  some  of  the  things  that  occur  to  me 
in  favor  of  this  measure  and  against  it: 

"  In  the  first  place,  it  is  clear  that  whatever 
may  be  the  merits  of  the  Demetrian  cult  it  is 
bound  sometimes  to  occasion  misfortune;  misfor- 
tune is  seldom  distinguished  from  injustice,  and 
so  the  cult  is  made  to  bear  the  brunt  of  every  dis- 
appointment that  results  from  the  working  of  the 
system,  whether  it  proceeds  from  unwisdom,  ca- 
price, or  accident.  Now  against  caprice  and  acci- 
dent the  cult  is  powerless;  but  as  regards  unwis- 
dom, whether  it  be  in  the  council  or  in  those  to 
whom  the  council  tenders  the  mission,  the  cult 
is  responsible,  and  must  be  held  responsible. 
Whether  the  misfortune  in  this  case  results  from 
unwisdom  or  not  is  a  question  which  I  do  not 
care  to  discuss;  but  obviously  something  has  oc- 
curred that  can  be  used  to  discredit  our  cult,  and 
it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  diminish  the  evil  re- 
sulting therefrom  to  the  utmost  possible. 

"  In  the  second  place,  there  has  been  recourse 
to  violence,  and  violence  is  the  greatest  crime 
against  social  welfare  which  any  man  can  commit. 

177 


The  Demetrian 

Are  the  persons  guilty  of  this  crime  to  be  left  un- 
corrected and  free  to  frame  new  plots  of  violence 
against  the  state? 

"  In  the  third  place,  a  trial  of  all  the  persons 
involved  in  this  matter  is  going  to  give  rise  to  a 
great  public  scandal.  The  trial  is  essentially  of 
a  political  character,  and  no  political  trial  can 
be  conducted  impartially;  the  very  fact  that  polit- 
ical prejudice  enters  into  it  necessarily  impairs 
the  impartiality  of  the  court;  and  even  if  a  fair 
court  could  be  secured,  the  defeated  political  fac- 
tion would  surely  accuse  the  court  of  unfairness. 

''  All  these  things  make  the  decision  of  this 
question  complicated  and  difficult." 

"  But,"  asked  I,  "  does  not  the  very  fact  that 
your  cult  raises  these  difficulties  put  into  question 
the  wisdom  of  the  cult  itself?" 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  in  your  opinion  the 
mission  of  Demeter,  with  the  beauty  of  its  sacri- 
fice and  the  blessing  it  must  eventually  bring  upon 
the  race,  should  be  abandoned  because  in  a  single 
instance  it  has  crossed  the  passion  of  a  Chairo?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,"  asked  I,  "  is  it  sure  to 
bring  a  sensible  benefit  to  the  race?  And  in  the 
second,  is  the  sacrifice  a  beautiful  one?  Is  it  not 
rather  inhuman  and  repulsive?  " 

"  I  shall  answer  your  questions  in  the  order 
178 


The  High  Priest  of  Demeter 

you  put  them:    Plato  was  the  first  philosopher  on 
record  who  proposed  applying  to  the  breeding 
of  men  the  same  art  as  we  apply  to  the  breed- 
ing of  animals— and  he  did  not  seriously  propose 
it;  his  proposition  was  spurned,  as  you  know,  by 
all  so-called  practical  statesmen  up  to  the  day  of 
Latona,  not  because  the  evil  attending  the  exist- 
ing system  was  not  recognized,  but  because  the 
remedy   proposed   seemed   worse   than   the   evil. 
And,    indeed,    if   men   and   women   were   to   be 
obliged  to  mate  or  refrain  from  mating  at  the 
bidding  of  the  state,  one  may  well  ask  whether 
life  would  not  become  intolerable  to  the  point  of 
universal  suicide.    The  evil,  therefore,  remained 
unabated.      Consumption,    scrofula,    cancer,    and 
other  unnamable  diseases  became   rooted  in  the 
race  on  the  one  hand,  and  no  attempt  was  made 
to  compensate  the  evil  by  selecting  according  to 
art.    Not  only  so,  but  the  pauper  proved  the  most 
prolific,  the  cultured  the  least  prolific;  so  that  the 
breeding  of  man— far  more  important  to  human 
happiness   than   the   breeding  of   sheep— seemed 
contrived  so  as  to  occasion  the  minimum  of  good 
and  the  maximum  of  evil.    There  seemed  to  be 
only  two  ways  to  mitigate  this  curse:  one,  to  re- 
store marriage  to  the  sanctity  it  theoretically  had 
under  the  canons  of  the  church;  the  other,  to  ap- 

179 


The  Demetrian 

peal  to  the  self-sacrifice  of  a  few  gifted  women. 
As  to  the  first,  Latona  believed  marriage  to  be 
degraded  in  great  part  through  the  inability  of 
young  men  and  women  to  choose  their  mates  with 
wisdom,  and  she  instituted  therefore  the  system 
of  provisional  marriage,  tolerable  only  in  youth, 
and  though  possible  in  later  years,  tolerated  then 
only  under  extraordinary  circumstances.  As  to 
the  second,  Latona  instituted  the  mission  of 
Demeter. 

"  It  is  not  easy  yet  to  draw  any  definite  con- 
clusion from  the  practical  working  of  the  system, 
for  it  has  not  been  working  long  enough.  Never- 
theless, it  would  be  impossible,  I  think,  to  find  any- 
where a  more  hopeful  band  of  youths  than  those 
to  whose  education  Irene  and  her  stafif  are  now 
devoting  themselves.  Indeed,  wherever  the  cult 
is  in  operation  the  girls  and  boys  who  proceed 
from  the  cloister  are,  to  my  judgment,  immeasur- 
ably superior  in  the  average  to  any  similar  number 
drawn  at  haphazard  from  the  community  at  large. 
And,  indeed,  how  could  it  be  otherwise?  Hered- 
ity must  in  the  long  run  count  for  a  great  deal ;  and 
by  securing  to  the  Demetrian  issue,  not  only  the 
highest  conceivable  education  and  parental  care, 
but  a  sense  that  they  owe  something  more  to  them- 
selves   as    regards   standard   of   conduct   because 

i8o 


The  High  Priest  of  Demeter 

they  owe  so  much  to  the  state,  we  create  an  en- 
vironment which  gives  hereditary  tendencies  the 
best  possible  opportunities  for  development. 

"  Now,  as  regards  the  last  part  of  your  ques- 
tion, my  answer  is  a  very  simple  one :  The  mission 
is  beautiful  only  when  wisely  tendered  and  wisely 
accepted;  when  unwisely  tendered  or  unwisely 
accepted  it  is  likely  to  be,  as  you  say,  inhuman  and 
even  repulsive." 

"  But  how  are  you  going  to  learn  wisdom," 
asked  I,  "  in  a  matter  so  difficult?  " 

"  Experience  has  already  helped  us,  I  think, 
to  avoid  serious  mistakes  except  in  such  excep- 
tional cases  as  this  of  Lydia.  For  your  attention 
has  perhaps  not  been  called  to  a  profound  dif- 
ference that  exists  in  women  little  recognized  in 
your  day.  This  difference  can,  I  think,  beSt  be 
defined  as  follows:  some  women  are  essentially 
wives,  others  are  essentially  mothers.  Love  is  the 
key  that  opens  the  heart  of  the  one,  maternity  the 
instinct  that  animates  the  other.  You  are  a  lawyer, 
are  you  not?  Did  you  ever  have  any  divorce 
cases? ' 

"Many!" 

"  Ransack  your  brain,  then,  and  see  if  you  do 
not  find  there  evidence  of  what  I  have  stated." 

He  paused;  and  there  came  back  to  me  an  in- 
i8i 


The  Demetrian 

terview  with  a  woman  who  complained  that  her 
husband  did  not  wish  her  to  have  children;  and 
as  it  was  children  she  wanted — so  she  said — the 
husband  was  almost  immaterial.  There  came  to 
my  mind  also  many  women  I  had  known  for 
whom  the  husband  ceased  to  have  importance  the 
moment  a  child  was  born. 

"  Our  art,"  continued  he,  "  consists  in  selecting 
the  women  who  combine  willingness  to  sacrifice 
themselves  with  this  maternal  instinct;  and  not 
the  maternal  instinct  alone — most  women  have 
this — but  a  maternal  instinct  that  preponderates 
every  other.  We  have  made  a  double  mistake 
in  Lydia:  her  love  for  Chairo  is  the  preponder- 
ing  instinct;  and  though  she  has  undoubtedly  a 
strongly  developed  religion  of  sacrifice,  she  is 
also  fond  of  pleasure.  That  pretty  little  tip-tilted 
nose  of  hers,"  he  added,  smiling,  "  should  have 
warned  us  of  this! " 


182 


CHAPTER     XVI 

ANNA'S  SECRET     , 

I  SAW  very  little  of  Anna  during  the  first  few 
days  of  my  stay  at  the  Pater's.  Cleon  had 
drawn  a  bad  number  and  was  therefore 
drafted  on  a  detachment  of  workmen  engaged  in 
mending  roads — a  work  all  disliked,  and  as  no 
one  volunteered  for  it,  it  had  to  be  apportioned 
by  lot.  Anna  of  Ann  felt  the  absence  of  Cleon 
because,  although  he  was  young,  he  had  attached 
himself  to  her  and  she  had  learned  somewhat  to 
depend  on  his  companionship.  In  the  absence  of 
Cleon,  therefore,  I  often  joined  Anna  in  her  walks 
and  became  more  and  more  charmed  by  her  sin- 
gleness of  purpose.  She  seemed  indifferent  to 
everything  except  her  art,  cared  nothing  for 
Chairo  and  his  principles,  had  little  conviction 
as  regards  the  Demetrian  cult,  and  absorbed  her- 
self altogether  in  the  joy  to  be  derived  from  beauty, 
whether  in  nature  or  in  man.  The  idea  that 
there  was  something  in  man  different  from  na- 
ture had  become  so  familiar  to  this  century  that 

1S3 


The  Demetrian 

the  confusion  between  them  from  which  the  phi- 
losophy of  our  time  was  only  just  emerging  seemed 
to  her  altogether  impossible,  and  it  was  a  hope 
of  hers  one  day  to  compose  a  group  or  monument 
in  which  man  with  his  faculty  of  subjugating  the 
forces  of  nature  to  his  use  would  be  contrasted 
with  these  forces,  typified  either  by  animals  or 
undeveloped  human  races.  She  had  shown  me 
several  models  upon  which  she  was  at  work  to 
typify  these  forces;  among  them  I  remember  one 
of  a  negro  kneeling,  with  wonder  on  his  thick  lips 
and  a  superb  strength  about  his  loins;  she  had 
modelled  also  a  lion  crouching  at  the  bidding  of 
an  unseen  hand;  but  I  had  seen  no  model  of  Con- 
quering Man.  In  an  abandoned  sugar  house 
which  she  had  arranged  as  a  studio,  however, 
were  many  unfinished  busts  hidden  away  which 
she  did  not  show  to  me  or  to  others,  and  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  curiosity  and  some  little  chaff  as 
to  the  secret  so  carefully  thus  concealed  by  her. 

One  morning,  however,  that  I  had  risen  early, 
tempted  by  the  bright  sun  of  an  Indian  summer, 
I  started  for  a  short  stroll,  and  passing  Anna's 
studio  was  surprised  to  find  a  window  open. 
Looking  inside  the  window,  I  saw  Anna  so  ab- 
sorbed on  a  clay  bust  that  she  had  not  heard  my 
approach.    I  watched  her  work  in  silence  without 

184 


Anna's  Secret 

appreciating  that  I  had  surprised  a  secret,  until 
moving  a  little  I  saw  clearly  that  the  bust  on 
which  she  was  working  was  a  portrait  of  Ariston. 
Even  then  I  was  not  clear  that  Anna  had  been 
hiding  this  portrait  from  us;  it  seemed  perfectly 
natural  that  she  should  be  engaged  upon  it.  But 
when  she  at  last  perceived  me  she  blushed  scarlet 
and  threw  a  cloth  over  it. 

"  You  have  seen  it,"  she  said  reproachfully. 

"  Why  not?  "  asked  I.  "  It  was  only  a  portrait 
of  Ariston." 

"  Was  it  so  like  him  that  you  saw  it  at  once?  " 

"  Did  you  not  mean  it  to  be  so?  " 

"No!"  she  exclaimed,  almost  with  temper, 
"  and  I  did  not  mean  you  to  see  it." 

I  apologized  to  her  and  suggested  that  she 
should  join  me  in  my  walk;  but  she  did  not  answer 
me  at  once;  she  moved  about  the  studio  as  though 
agitated  by  my  discovery,  moving  things  aim- 
lessly, taking  things  up  and  putting  them  down 
again.  I  stood  at  the  window  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer, for  I  did  not  wish  to  leave  her  in  this  dis- 
turbed condition.  At  last  she  looked  me  full  in 
the  face  and  her  mobile  lips  twitched  with  ill- 
suppressed  emotion.  Had  she  known  how  little 
I  suspected  the  cause  of  her  trouble  she  need  not 
have  been  so  moved;  but  she  had  been  so  long 

i8s 


The  Demetrian 

fighting  against  her  love  for  Ariston  that  she 
imagined  the  discovery  by  me  of  the  portrait  had 
betrayed  her  secret. 

"  You  won't  tell  any  one  you  have  seen  it,  will 
you?"  she  said  at  last  appealingly. 

"  Certainly  not,"  answered  I.  "  But  why  are 
you  so  anxious  to  keep  it  a  secret?  " 

She  opened  her  eyes  at  this  question  and  then 
burst  out,  with  a  sob  in  her  voice : 

"  I  would  not  have  them  guess  it  for  the 
world." 

At  last  I  understood:  this  bust  was  not  a  por- 
trait of  Ariston ;  it  was  a  study  for  her  Conquering 
Man,  and  she  could  not  keep  out  of  it  the  features 
of  the  one  she  loved. 

"  See,"  she  said,  pointing  to  the  corner  where 
the  uncompleted  busts  were  hidden,  "  they  all  look 
like  him ;  even  when  I  tried  to  model  a  face  with- 
out a  beard,  expressly  to  escape  this  haunting 
thought,  you  can  see  it — somewhere  in  the  brow," 
and  she  moved  her  hand  over  the  brow.  "  At 
every  attempt  I  make,  something  betrays  me,"  and 
she  sat  down  on  a  low  chair  and  buried  her  face 
in  her  hands. 

I  stood  by  her,  not  daring  to  intrude;  and  pres- 
ently she  got  up  sadly  and  said: 

"  Yes,  I  shall  go  with  you — anything  to  get 
i86 


Anna's  Secret 

away  from  it  all  " ;  and  taking  her  cap  from  a  peg, 
closed  the  window,  locked  the  door,  and  joined 
me. 

"  I  had  half  an  idea,"  said  I,  as  we  moved 
toward  the  wood,  "  that  you  had  a  fancy  for 
Cleon." 

Anna  smiled.  "  Cleon  is  a  sweet  boy  and  I 
am  very  fond  of  him;  I  suppose  he  thinks  he  is 
in  love  with  me ;  but  we  are  accustomed  to  these 
*  green  and  salad '  loves ;  indeed,  we  are  taught 
not  to  discourage  them.  It  is  good  for  a  boy  like 
Cleon  to  be  in  love  with  some  one  much  older 
than  himself  that  he  can  never  marry;  it  keeps 
him  out  of  mischief  and  does  no  one  harm.  One 
day  he  will  reproach  me  and  tell  me  I  have  en- 
couraged him;  I  have  not,  you  know,  not  the 
slightest;  but  he  will  say  I  have,  and  honestly 
think  it  for  a  few  days;  a  little  later  he  will  get 
over  it  and  be  a  good  friend  of  mine  to  the  end 
of  my  days." 

We  had  a  walk  in  the  wood  that  has  remained 
in  my  memory  as  one  of  the  sweetest  hours  I 
spent  at  Tyringham.  She  soon  accustomed  her- 
self to  my  knowledge  of  her  secret,  and  this 
created  an  intimacy  between  us  that  was  rare  and 
pleasant. 

At  that  early  hour  the  woods  were  dark  and 

187 


The  Demetrian 

fresh,  and  the  light  upon  a  meadow  we  were  ap- 
proaching reminded  me  of  a  forgotten  poet: 

"  I  knew  the  flowers ;   I  knew  the  leaves ;   I  knew 
The  tearful  glimmer  of  the  languid  dawn 
On   those   long   rank   dark   wood   walks    drenched 
with  dew 

Leading  from  lawn  to  lawn." 

I  quoted  them  to  her  and  she  responded  to 
them;  wanted  to  know  the  poet's  name  and  more 
of  his  work;  and  as  the  autumn  mist  lay  heavy 
on  the  lower  pastures  and  the  heavy  fragrance  of 
the  autumn  woods  filled  the  air,  I  repeated  to  her 
those  other  lines  of  his: 

"  The  woods  decay  ;  the  woods  decay  and  fall, 
The  vapors  weep  their  burthen  to  the  ground ; 
Man  comes  and  tills  the  earth  and  lies  beneath. 
And  after  many  a  summer  dies  the  swan. 
Me  only,  cruel  immortality  consumes 
Here  at  the  Eastern  limit  of  the  day " 

She  put  a  hand  on  my  arm  and  stopped  me: 

''  What  is  that  again,  '  Me  only,  cruel '  " 

I  repeated  the  line  to  her. 

''What  a  subject,"  she  said;  "not  for  a  Ti- 
thonus — no;  what  a  thought  to  work  into  my 
group!  " 

I  saw  her  meaning:  Man  might  subdue  Na- 
i88 


Anna's  Secret 

ture  to  his  use;  what  then?  Was  he  to  be  never- 
theless forever  consumed  by  immortality?  Here 
was  the  limit  to  his  triumph;  its  shadow  and  re- 
verse." 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  it  all!"  she  said. 
"  We  are  unhappy,  do  what  we  may,  and  it  is  out 
of  our  very  unhappiness  that  we  find  something 
that  replaces  happiness — a  sort  of  divine  sorrow." 

We  had  by  this  time  traversed  the  wood  and 
stood  on  a  height  which  commanded  the  now 
deserted  colony  buildings.  The  sun  was  well  up 
on  the  horizon;  the  birds  hopping  silently  in  the 
boughs,  their  spring  and  summer  songs  over;  but 
the  torrent  filled  the  air  with  its  noisy  music  as 
it  dashed  down  the  hillside,  and  beyond  we  saw 
it  meandering  in  peaceful  curves  among  the 
meadows. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful,"  she  said.  "  After  all, 
there  is  joy  enough  in  beauty,  and  it  is  no  small 
thing  " — she  was  looking  absently  over  the  mead- 
ows as  she  repeated — "  it  is  no  small  thing  that 
we  can  by  art  add  to  it." 

"  It  is  a  mission  of  which  you  can  well  be 
proud,"  said  I. 

She  looked  at  me  and  smiled  gratefully. 

As  we  returned  I  felt  that  she  had  shaken  off 
some  of  the  sorrow  with  which  she  had  started. 

189 


CHAPTER   XVII 

DESIGNS  ON  ANNA  OF  ANN 

MY  Stay  at  the  Pater's  farm  was  altogether 
delightful,  for  most  of  the  day  was  spent 
in  shooting.  October  was  the  only 
month  open  to  all;  but  one  permit  was  given  to 
every  ten  inhabitants  during  November,  and  as 
there  were  forty-four,  including  the  Pater's  fam- 
ily, on  the  farm,  it  was  easy  to  spare  one  to  me. 
The  Pater's  younger  son  Phaines  had  another; 
he  was  not  only  a  keen  sportsman  but  an  agreeable 
companion,  and  we  killed  much  game,  great  and 
small.  During  a  period  of  twenty  years  the  shoot- 
ing of  bear  had  been  prohibited,  and  now,  with 
the  extension  of  forests,  bear  had  increased  so  as 
to  be  extremely  plentiful.  Deer,  elk,  caribou, 
moose,  wild  boar,  and  such  destructive  animals  as 
lynxes,  foxes,  and  wild  cats,  furnished  all  that  a 
sportsman  could  ask  in  the  way  of  variety.  As 
the  amount  of  game  we  killed  far  exceeded  the 
consuming  power  of  the  neighborhood  we  daily 
telephoned  to  the  County  Supply  Department  for 

190 


Designs  on  Anna  of  Ann 

instructions  where  to  ship  it,  and  we  received  our 
pay  therefor. 

During  the  winter,  country  people  took  their 
principal  meal  in  the  evening,  the  morning  and 
midday  hours  being  the  pleasantest  for  being  in 
the  open  air.  The  farm  hands  and  we  sportsmen 
took  our  luncheon  with  us  and  came  home  pre- 
pared for  a  large  meal.  Those  who  prepared  the 
meal  preferred  to  spend  the  dark  hours  from  four 
to  seven  in  the  preparation  of  it,  and  to  be  free 
during  the  earlier  part  of  the  day. 

The  evening  passed  pleasantly.  Every  large 
farmhouse — and  there  were  few  small  ones,  ex- 
cept such  as  were,  so  to  speak,  dependent  upon  the 
large — had  a  room  with  a  stage,  specially  applied 
to  music  and  theatrical  performances;  it  could 
also  be  used  for  such  indoor  games  as  squash 
or  badminton.  In  this  room  those  who  wanted 
to  practice  music,  etc.,  would  assemble,  and 
here  they  would  occasionally  give  performances. 
When  these  farms  sent  their  inmates  to  the  city 
for  a  few  months  in  the  winter,  hospitality  was 
gladly  extended  them  for  the  variety  of  perform- 
ances which  they  could  furnish;  and  by  this  ex- 
change of  population,  the  city  people  going  to 
the  country  to  harvest  in  the  summer,  and  the 
farmers  going  to  the  city  for  amusement  and  in- 

191 


The  Demetrian 

struction  during  the  winter,  monotony  of  life  was 
eliminated. 

One  day  when  I  was  returning  from  a  day's 
sport  with  Phaines,  a  buck  packed  on  each  of  our 
horses,  we  were  talking  of  marriage,  and  I  asked 
him  whether  he  did  not  intend  to  marry. 

"  I  want  to  marry  very  much,"  said  he. 
.  I  looked  at  him  inquiringly. 

''  I  have  asked  Anna  of  Ann  a  dozen  times  to 
marry  me  and  she  won't,"  continued  he.  "  I  can't 
see  why  she  won't,  either;  she  doesn't  seem  to  care 
for  anyone  else ;  she  might  as  well  marry  me,  and 
then  she  could  give  all  her  time  to  that  art  of  hers 
she  is  so  devoted  to." 

"  But  she  would  have  to  work  some  part  of  the 
day  at  the  farm,  wouldn't  she?  " 

"  No;  we  are  quite  well  enough  off  to  let  her 
give  all  her  time  to  her  art  if  she  wanted  to.  It's 
this  way:  We  have  to  furnish  so  much  butter,  or 
its  equivalent  in  eggs,  poultry,  stock,  etc.,  to  the 
state  for  the  amount  of  land  we  cultivate;  then 
we  have  to  support  our  farm  hands,  that  is  to  say, 
either  we  have  to  give  to  each  wages  out  of  the 
surplus  produce  of  the  farm,  over  and  above  what 
we  pay  the  state  as  rent,  or  we  have  to  furnish 
the  state  extra  produce  for  every  farm  hand  we 
have.    Well,  our  hands  prefer  the  former  of  these 

192 


Designs  on  Anna  of  Ann 

plans.  The  amount  we  give  each  farm  hand  de- 
pends on  the  amount  of  the  surplus;  every  one  of 
us  is  interested  in  making  this  surplus  as  large  as 
possible.  In  this  way  we  really  have  a  great  deal 
more  than  we  can  spend,  and  I  could  easily  afiford, 
out  of  my  share  of  the  surplus,  to  support  Anna, 
so  that  she  need  not  work  at  all." 

"  You  are  very  prosperous  then?  " 

"  Yes,  and  why  shouldn't  we  be?  Now  that 
we  get  grain  at  what  it  really  costs  instead  of 
paying  middlemen  and  speculators,  railroad  stock- 
holders, elevators,  etc.,  etc.,  everything  is  half  the 
price  it  used  to  be.  Then  we  need  never  fear  that 
no  one  will  buy  our  produce.  The  Supply  De- 
partment can  always  tell  us  just  where  what  we 
have  is  needed,  and  pays  us  for  it  on  the  spot.  It 
does  the  transportation;  and  so  the  state  needn't 
ask  us  an  exorbitant  rent,  and  can  always  pay  us 
a  remunerative  price  for  our  surplus." 

*'  But  you  don't  suppose  Anna  of  Ann  would 
be  induced  to  marry  you  just  because  you  could 
support  her,  do  you?  " 

"  She's  a  fool  if  she  doesn't,  as  she  apparently 
does  not  care  for  any  one  else." 

That  night  after  dinner  most  of  the  party  ad- 
journed to  the  music  room,  so  I  took  a  chair  near 

193 


The  Demetrian 

the  Mater  who  was  knitting  by  the  big  fire  in  the 
hall. 

A  benign  smile  lightened  up  her  dear  old 
round  face  as  she  made  room  for  me  to  get  close  to 
the  fire.  I  was  curious  to  know  what  she  thought 
of  Anna,  and  said  to  her: 

''  Phaines  tells  me  he  wants  to  marry  Anna 
of  Ann." 

"  Isn't  she  foolish  now  not  to  marry  him?  " 
answered  the  Mater,  putting  down  her  work.  "  I 
am  so  fond  of  her,  and  Phaines  and  she  would 
make  an  ideal  couple.  She  could  work  all  day  at 
the  art  she  is  fond  of  and  both  ought  to  be  as 
happy,  all  the  year  long,  as  larks  in  the  spring." 

"  I  have  sometimes  thought,"  said  I,  wishing 
to  draw  the  Mater  out,  "  that  Anna  looked  sad." 

''  Well,  she  is  a  genius,  and  all  geniuses  look 
sad  sometimes.  It  seems  as  though  somebody  has 
to  be  sad  in  order  that  others  may  be  happy. 
Now,  I  am  glad  I  am  a  plain  farmer's  wife  and 
don't  have  to  be  sad.  And  yet,"  she  added,  tak- 
ing up  her  knitting  again,  "  I  love  to  look  at  sad 
things.  Have  you  ever  seen  Anna's  statue  of 
Bacchus?  " 

I  had  seen  it  and  wondered  at  it  until  it  was 
explained  to  me  that  the  better  Greek  notion  of 
Bacchus  as  the  god  of  enthusiasm  had  been  re- 

194 


Designs  on  Anna  of  Ann 

stored  to  the  Dionysan  cult.  Then  I  perceived 
that  Anna  had  given  to  the  wine  god  something 
of  the  discontent  that  lends  charm  to  the  statues 
of  Antinoiis. 

"  Anna's  thought  doubtless  is,"  said  I,  "  that 
the  highest  enthusiasm  springs  from  a  sense  of  an 
unsatisfied  need." 

"  Well,  I  like  to  look  at  it  but  I  don't  care  to 
think  about  it.  I  like  just  to  toast  my  toes  by  the 
fire  these  long  winter  evenings  and  know  that  our 
storehouse  is  full  and  our  boys  happy.  But  I  do 
wish  Anna  would  marry  Phaines." 

Assuredly,  thought  I,  man  is  a  variable  thing 
— constructed  upon  lines  so  different  that  it  is  sur- 
prising one  variety  of  man  can  at  all  understand 
the  other.  And  yet,  in  view  of  the  variety  of 
occupations  in  which  man  must  engage  if  he  wants 
to  satisfy  his  complex  needs,  how  fortunate  that 
the  Mater  could  be  happy  only  on  her  farm,  and 
Anna  happy  only  in  her  studio!  And  for  the 
Mater  and  Phaines  the  question  of  marriage  with 
Anna  was  one  that  could  tarry  for  its  solution 
year  after  year;  while  for  Anna,  her  love  for 
Ariston  tormented  her  life,  intruded  into  her  art, 
saddened  and  inspired  it. 

I  was  interested,  however,  to  discover  that  she 
had  escaped  from  the  thraldom  of  it  for  the  time 

195 


The  Demetrian 

at  any  rate;  for  on  the  next  day,  when  I  peeped 
into  her  studio  early  in  the  morning,  she  no  longer 
threw  a  cloth  over  her  clay,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
beckoned  me  in. 

And  I  saw  dimly  growing  out  of  a  gigantic 
mass  of  clay  the  noble  lineaments  of  an  old  man 
with  shaggy  projecting  eyebrows  and  a  beard 
that  rivalled  that  of  the  Moses  of  Michael  An- 
gelo. 

"  It  is  only  the  bust,"  she  said.  She  looked 
very  lovely  as  with  suppressed  excitement  she  ex- 
plained to  me  her  thought,  and  her  eyes  usually 
dim  grew  bright.  *'  It  is  to  be  a  colossal  figure, 
standing;  I  think  there  is  something  in  it  that 
is  going  to  be  suggested  by  the  Creator  of  the 
Sixtine  chapel  as  he  stands  creating  Eve;  but  then, 
too,  I  see  in  the  clay  before  me  something  more 
kindly,  reminding  me  rather  of  Prospero;  and 
yet  he  is  to  be  triumphant;  I  think  one  arm  will 
be  lifted,  half  in  joy  and  half  in  benediction,  but 
his  brow  will  be  thoughtful  and  sad." 

"  And  you  have  got  rid  of  Ariston  alto- 
gether? "  asked  I. 

She  blushed  and  pouted  a  little. 

"  You  must  never  speak  to  me  of  Ariston  again. 
I  am  glad  to  be  free  from  him,  in  this  at  any  rate 
— and  it  is  your  Tithonus  that  has  rescued  me. 

196 


Designs  on  Anna  of  Ann 

If  I  were  to  put  a  legend  to  this  sculpture — of 
course,  I  won't — but  if  I  were  to  do  so,  it  should 
be  '  Me  only,  cruel  immortality  consumes.'  " 

"  And  yet  this  would  express  only  a  small  part 
of  the  whole  thing." 

"  And  that  is  why  no  legend  should  ever  be 
attached  to  sculpture;  sculpture  must  tell  her  own 
story  in  her  own  way — legends  belong  to  litera- 
ture. Sculpture  must  owe  nothing  to  any  other 
art  than  her  own."  She  was  looking  critically  at 
the  bust  now,  as  though  I  were  not  in  the  room, 
but  presently  becoming  conscious  of  my  existence 
again,  she  added:  "I  value  this  legend  because 
it  started  me  on  a  new  line  of  thought  unhaunted 
by  the  old." 

For  days  Anna  was  so  gay  that  I  began  to 
wonder  whether  Ariston  had  not  lost  his  oppor- 
tunity, and  I  wondered  so  all  the  more  when  I 
saw  little  advances  to  Anna  on  his  part  unre- 
sponded  to.  One  evening  when  he  had  felt  him- 
self discouraged  by  her,  he  said  to  me: 

"  I  don't  think  Anna  will  ever  care  for  any- 
thing but  her  art.  I  asked  her  to  show  me  what 
she  is  doing  and  she  refused — a  little  curtly,  I 
thought." 

"  My  dear  Ariston,"  answered  I,  "  do  you  sup- 
pose Anna  is  going  to  fall  into  your  arms  the  mo- 

197 


The  Demetrian 

ment  you  open  them  to  her?  You  have  treated 
her  for  years  as  though  she  did  not  exist,  and  now 
you  are  disappointed  because  at  a  first  lordly  ap- 
proach she  does  not  at  once  fall  trembling  at  your 
feet." 

"  Am  I  really  such  a  coxcomb  as  that?  "  asked 
Ariston. 

"  Don't  take  me  too  seriously,"  said  I.  ''  All 
I  mean  to  suggest  is  that  if  Anna  is  worth  win- 
ning she  is  worth  wooing;  she  is  absorbed  in  her 
work — her  life  is  quite  filled  with  it — and  if  you 
want  her  life  to  be  filled  with  you,  you  must  take 
some  little  trouble  and  exercise  some  little  pa- 
tience." 

Ariston  laughed  good  humoredly,  and  asked 
me  how  Lydia  was  doing.  I  had  seen  little  of 
her.  We  met  at  meal-time,  but  so  many  sat  down 
to  every  meal  that  I  seldom  found  myself  near  her. 
I  knew  that  she  heard  daily  from  Chairo  and 
wrote  daily  to  him,  but  more  than  this  no  one 
knew.  Ariston  explained  to  me  that  the  forces 
marshalled  in  opposition  to  one  another  were  now 
fairly  organized,  but  that  it  was  impossible  to 
tell  with  whom  the  victory  would  rest.  The 
leader  of  the  government,  Peleas,  was  not  a  big 
man;  on  the  contrary,  many  charged  him  with 
being  narrow.     He  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the 

198 


Designs  on   Anna  of  Ann 

amnesty  bill ;  regarded  Chairo  as  a  firebrand  who 
must  be  suppressed,  and  asked,  if  blood  could 
deluge  the  streets  of  New  York  one  day  and  am- 
nesty be  voted  to  those  responsible  therefor  the 
next,  what  security  could  the  community  hope  for 
in  the  future?  Would  not  such  action  serve  to 
encourage  all  discontent  to  take  the  shape  of  riot 
and  revolt? 

There  was,  of  course,  much  truth  in  his  view. 
The  Demetrian  council  had  met,  but  their  deci- 
sion was  kept  absolutely  secret.  Irene  had  now 
altogether  recovered  and  was  expected  to  direct 
the  Demetrian  forces  in  the  legislature;  she  would 
not,  however,  take  the  floor;  it  was  considered 
that  their  spokesman  ought  to  be  a  man.  Ariston 
was  disqualified  by  the  fact  that  he  was  acting  for 
Chairo;  so  they  decided  on  an  extremely  judi- 
cious, though  not  very  eloquent  speaker,  by  name 
Arkles.  Ariston  returned  to  New  York  the  next 
day. 


199 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

A  DREAM 

^   I  ^HE  day  that  Ariston  left,  the  Mater  sum- 

I  moned  me  to  her  room  to  make  plans  for 
the  day,  and  I  found  Lydia  there,  en- 
gaged in  moving  a  bracket  of  beautifully  wrought 
iron  that  she  found  too  low.  While  I  talked  to 
the  Mater  I  found  my  eyes  following  Lydia's 
movements  as  she  stood  with  her  back  to  me  un- 
screwing the  bracket  from  the  wall.  The  Mater 
soon  came  to  an  understanding  with  me  and  left 
the  room  to  attend  to  her  household  duties.  I 
was  left  alone  with  Lydia. 

She  had  by  this  time  unscrewed  the  bracket 
and  was  holding  it  higher  up  against  the  wall, 
estimating  the  height,  prior  to  fastening  it  in 
again. 

"  You  will  never  be  able  to  fasten  it  at  that 
height,"  said  I,  "  without  a  ladder." 

She  looked  round  at  me,  still  holding  the 
bracket  against  the  wall,  and  I  wished  I  had  the 
art  of  a  sculptor  to  immortalize  her  as  she  stood. 

200 


A   Dream 

She  smiled  as  she  said:  "  How  about  a  chair, 
Xenos?" 

I  immediately  brought  a  chair  to  her. 

She  stepped  upon  it  but  slipped.  I  was  hold- 
ing the  back  of  the  chair,  and  as  she  slipped  I 
put  out  my  hands  to  catch  her.  For  a  moment 
I  held  her  in  my  arms.  She  had  stumbled  in  such 
a  way  that  her  head  was  thrown  a  little  back  over 
my  shoulder,  and  before  she  could  recover  her- 
self her  face  was  so  close  to  mine  that  I  could  have 
kissed  her  with  the  slightest  possible  movement 
of  my  face. 

I  thought  that  I  had  conquered  the  feeling 
which  she  had  inspired  in  me  the  first  moment 
I  set  eyes  on  her  on  Tyringham  hill.  But  the 
blood,  rushing  through  my  veins,  and  my  beat- 
ing pulses,  as  I  held  her  for  a  moment  in  my  arms, 
told  me  that  I  was  still  hopelessly  in  love  with 
her. 

She  seemed  altogether  unaware  of  it,  for  re- 
covering her  balance  she  laughed  a  little,  looked 
at  me  straight  in  the  eyes,  her  brows  a  little  lifted, 
and  her  lovely  lips  parted  by  a  smile. 

"  I  slipped,"  she  said.  "  Wasn't  it  silly  of 
me!" 

And  jumping  on  the  chair  she  got  to  work 
again. 

20I 


The  Demetrian 

I  watched  her  work  and  drank  deep  draughts 
of  delicious  poison  as  I  watched. 

As  soon  as  she  had  finished  she  looked  at  her 
work  critically  and  said:  "That  is  very  much 
better!  "  and  turning  to  me,  added,  "  Isn't  it?  " 

I  could  not  help  wondering  whether  she  was 
as  unconscious  of  the  effect  she  produced  as  she 
seemed  to  be.  But  she  gave  me  no  chance  of  dis- 
covering, for  finding  I  did  not  answer  but  stood 
there  silent,  like  a  fool,  she  added: 

"  I  must  be  off!  Au  revoirV^  and  taking  up  her 
screwdriver  and  other  things,  went  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  utter  unconsciousness  out  of  the  room. 

All  that  day  my  mind  was  haunted  by  her;  I 
knew  it  was  folly  to  harbor  hope,  and  yet  I  har- 
bored it  fatuously;  her  image  came  in  and  out  of 
my  mind  as  the  sun  on  a  rainy  day  in  and  out 
of  the  clouds,  to  delight  and  to  torment. 

That  evening  the  orchestra  played  a  minuet 
of  Mozart  so  charmingly  that  Lydia  rose,  and 
saying,  "  We  really  must  dance  to  that,"  made  a 
sweeping  bow. 

I  jumped  up  at  the  challenge,  and  soon  eight 
of  us  were  on  our  feet.  Lydia  was  my  partner. 
I  was  so  absorbed  by  her  every  movement,  so  en- 
tranced by  the  occasional  touch  of  her  ungloved 

202 


A  Dream 

hand,  that  I  was  aware  of  nothing  else  in  the 
room.  Surely,  thought  I,  there  never  was  a 
Tanagra  figure  to  compare  with  hers. 

«When  we  separated  for  the  night  I  was  in  a 
fever.  It  was  useless  to  go  to  bed,  and  I  went  out 
into  the  bright  cold  air.  I  saw  the  light  in  her 
room  and  stood  in  front  of  it,  cursing  myself  for 
a  love-sick  fool.  But  the  cold  drove  me  in — and 
to  bed.  For  hours  I  tossed  about,  and  sleep  over- 
took me  at  last,  but  only  to  torture  me;  it  played 
with  me,  threw  me  on  my  back,  as  it  were,  at  one 
moment,  only  to  jump  me  on  my  feet  the  next; 
and  throughout  it  all  I  saw  Lydia  at  odd  in- 
tervals in  every  conceivable  mood;  now  smiling 
and  beckoning,  now  turning  from  me  as  though 
offended,  and,  again,  treating  me  with  indiffer- 
ence. But  at  last  I  seemed  to  have  passed  through 
a  period  of  deep  unconsciousness,  for  I  woke  sud- 
denly to  find  Lydia  before  me  more  lovely  than 
I  had  ever  seen  her.  I  was  not  surprised — al- 
though I  know  I  ought  to  have  been — to  find  her 
in  a  dress  that  showed  her  bosom,  her  hair  hung 
like  a  curtain  of  gold  about  her;  her  long  eyes 
were  wet  with  tears,  and  yet  there  shone  out  of 
them  a  light  so  mystic  and  divine  that  I  threw 
myself  at  her  feet.  She  held  out  a  hand  to  me  and 
lifted  me  up.    I  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  her 

203 


The  Dcmetrian 

tears  or  of  her  graciousness,  but  as  I  rose  nearer 
to  her  she  smiled.  In  an  ecstasy  I  touched  her 
lips  with  mine;  she  did  not  withdraw  them;  nay, 
she  kissed  me  on  the  brow  and  cheek,  fond  and 
despairing  kisses,  for  her  tears  fell  upon  my  face 
and  they  were  warm. 

How  loner  did  it  last?  Was  it  for  a  moment 
or  for  all  time  ?  A  blaze  of  light  pouring  through 
my  window  roused  me.  I  jumped  out  of  bed  and 
looked  stupidly  out  on  the  old  sugar  house  that 
Anna  had  converted  into  a  studio.  It  was  noth- 
ing but  a  dream. 

"  Nothing  but  a  dream!  "  thought  I  exulting- 
ly.  "  But  no  one  can  ever  deprive  me  of  it.  I 
have  felt  her  kisses  on  my  lips  and  her  tears.  All 
my  life  long  that  memory  will  belong  to  me — and 
suffice." 

I  sat  down,  weak  and  tired,  closing  my  eyes  to 
recall  the  vanished  dream;  and  it  came  back  to 
me,  every  detail  of  it,  so  vividly  that  I  jumped 
up  from  my  chair  with  the  thought  that  it  was 
not  all  mere  fancy;  something  had  happened, 
something  had  actually  happened,  of  this  I  felt 
sure,  and  was  it  possible — I  hardly  dared  enter- 
tain the  thought — was  it  possible  she  had  dreamed 
also  of  me? 

I  dressed  automatically,  breakfasted  automat- 
204 


A   Dream 

ically,  strolled  automatically  about  the  grounds. 
I  must  see  Lydia.  I  returned  to  the  house,  asked 
the  Mater  where  Lydia  was,  and  was  told  that  she 
could  be  found  in  the  room  where  she  had  been 
the  previous  morning.  I  almost  ran  there,  and, 
on  opening  the  door,  saw  her  seated  in  a  high- 
backed  oak  chair,  very  erect,  with  her  hair  about 
her  and  something  resembling  tears  in  her  eyes 
as  I  had  seen  her  in  my  dream.  She  had  tapestry 
in  her  hands,  but  they  rested  idly  in  her  lap.  She 
did  not  move  when  I  entered.  She  seemed  to  be 
expecting  me. 

I  advanced  toward  her  slowly  with  something 
like  awe  in  my  heart. 

"  Did  you  have  a  dream  in  the  night?  "  I  at 
last  summoned  courage  to  ask. 

She  did  not  answer,  and  the  look  in  her  eyes 
baffled  me. 

''  Did  you  dream  of  m^?"  I  asked  huskily — 
almost  aghast. 

Still  she  said  nothing  but  kept  fixed  upon  me 
her  inscrutable  eyes. 

I  hardly  dared  to  go  on,  but  in  my  folly  I  con- 
tinued. 

"  Did  you  " — stammered  I — but  I  could  not 
put  my  question  in  words. 

Tears  sprang  to  her  eyes,  and  she  sat  there  just 
205 


The   Demetrian 

as  I  had  seen  her  in  my  dream,  save  that  she  wore 
the  usual  chiton. 

I  was  in  an  anguish  of  suspense,  but  it  came  to 
an  end,  for  she  shook  her  head  sadly. 

"Don't!"  she  said.    "Don't!" 

I  fell  at  her  feet  and  buried  my  head  in  her 
lap.  She  did  not  shrink  from  me.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  felt  her  hand  stroke  my  head,  and  I  knew 
it  was  not  love  but  compassion. 

I  knelt  there  a  full  minute,  but  even  to  the 
luxury  of  grief  I  had  not  the  right  to  surrender. 
So  I  rose  abruptly.  I  took  her  hand,  kissed  it, 
held  it  for  a  moment  in  mine,  and  said: 

"  I  shall  not  intrude  on  you  again,  Lydia;  I 
love  you  consumedly,  but  I  shall  not  intrude  on 
you  again." 

And  laying  her  hand  gently  upon  her  lap  I 
turned  abruptly  and  left  the  room. 

Next  day  I  left  Tyringham. 

Almost  the  entire  population  of  the  farm — 
save  only  Lydia,  her  mother,  and  the  few  farm 
hands  necessary  to  care  for  the  stock — and  these 
last  had  their  holiday  later — repaired  to  New 
York.  Most  of  them  went  to  the  building  in 
which  lived  Anna's  family.  Ariston  and  I  re- 
turned to  our  old  quarters. 

206 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE  LEGISLATURE  MEETS 

AT  the  first  meeting  of  the  Assembly — for 
the  Legislature  now  sat  no  longer  at 
Albany  but  at  New  York^ — Masters  arose 
as  soon  as  the  opening  formalities  were  over  and 
read  a  bill  of  amnesty  for  all  concerned  in  the 
so-called  riot  of  the  preceding  month.  He  stated 
that  an  identical  bill  was  being  at  that  moment 
offered  in  the  Senate,  and  moved  a  joint  session 
of  both  houses  to  consider  it. 

Peleas,  the  leader  of  the  government,  con- 
sented to  the  joint  session,  but  asked  that  the 
matter  be  referred  to  a  committee.  He  pointed 
out  that  the  facts  were  not  clearly  before  the 
house,  and  that  it  was  essential  that  a  committee 
should  investigate  the  facts  and  present  them  in 
a  report  to  the  joint  session. 

Masters  opposed  reference  to  an  investigating 
committee.  He  contended  that  the  very  object  of 
the  bill  was  to  prevent  the  issues,  that  had  caused 
their  streets  to  be  stained  by  blood,  from  remain- 

207 


The   Demetrian 

ing  confounded  by  personal  animosities.  A  great 
institution  had  been  attacked;  that  institution  was, 
in  the  opinion  of  many,  of  the  highest  social  value. 
It  was  possible  that  in  some  respects  it  had  a  les- 
son to  learn;  it  was  important  that  the  lesson  be 
learned  free  from  the  heat  of  such  bitter  hatred 
as  must  result  from  an  attempt  to  punish  those 
who  had  been  driven  by  misguided  zeal  to  acts  of 
violence.  Already  the  investigation  had  shown 
how  far  the  desperate  effort  of  those  implicated 
to  shield  themselves  might  distort  facts;  it  had 
even  been  alleged — and  his  strong,  honest  coun- 
tenance glowed  for  a  moment  with  indignation  as 
he  spoke — it  had  even  been  alleged  that  the  whole 
responsibility  for  the  attack  rested  not  upon  Bal- 
bus  and  his  followers  but  upon  a  woman!  He 
would  not  waste  the  time  of  the  house  now  by 
pointing  out  the  diverse  reasons  why  an  investiga- 
tion was  to  be  avoided.  Obviously,  what  the  coun- 
try needed,  and  he  thought  he  could  say  asked  for, 
was  oblivion.  Why,  then,  an  investigating  com- 
mittee? 

Arkles  next  arose — and  as  he  was  known  to  be 
the  spokesman  of  the  cult  he  was  listened  to  with 
breathless  attention.  He  altogether  appreciated 
the  weight  of  the  argument  against  an  investigat- 
ing committee  just  made,  but  as  had  also  been 

208 


The  Legislature  Meets 

justly  said,  it  was  possible  that  the  cult  had  a 
lesson  to  learn.  In  order  to  learn  that  lesson  it 
had  to  know  the  facts,  and  the  facts  had  not  yet 
been  properly  determined.  Moreover,  something 
was  due  to  law  and  order.  It  might,  in  the  end, 
be  considered  the  better  course  to  allow  the  pun- 
ishment which  those  involved  in  the  riot  had  al- 
ready suffered,  to  suffice,  and  to  allow  oblivion 
to  obliterate,  to  the  utmost  possible,  the  whole 
matter  from  their  annals.  But  the  state  would  not 
do  its  duty  if  it  did  not  thoroughly  investigate  the 
crime  it  was  condoning;  and  though  he  regretted 
to  oppose  a  man  who  had  always  been  regarded 
as  a  pillar  not  only  of  the  government  but  of  the 
cult,  he  nevertheless  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  sup- 
port the  government  in  asking  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  investigating  committee. 

Masters,  who  in  his  heart,  though  he  could  not 
admit  it  to  himself,  feared  the  consequences  to 
Neaera  of  an  investigating  committee,  maintained 
his  opposition;  Chairo,  also,  who  desired  to  avoid, 
at  all  hazards,  the  necessity  of  Lydia's  appearing 
before  such  a  committee,  was  opposed  to  the  in- 
vestigation. Both  were  also  influenced  by  the 
desire  to  carry  the  bill  promptly  by  a  coup  de 
main,  if  this  were  at  all  possible. 

The  motion  of  Peleas  was  carried  by  a  large 
209 


The  Demetrian 

majority,  and  the  result  produced  much  discour- 
agement in  Chairo's  ranks.  Masters,  however, 
immediately  arose  and  moved  that  in  view  of  the 
importance  of  the  question  and  the  impossibility 
of  calmly  discussing  any  other  matter  until  the 
fate  of  the  amnesty  bill  was  settled,  the  house  ad- 
journ, and  not  sit  again  until  after  the  elections 
and  after  the  joint  session  of  both  houses  had  com- 
pleted its  mission. 

Peleas  and  Arkles  both  approved  of  this  mo- 
tion, and  the  passage  of  it,  with  only  a  few  scat- 
tering votes  in  the  negative,  to  a  certain  extent 
restored  the  confidence  of  the  opposition.  For  if 
the  government  to  this  extent  recognized  the  im- 
portance of  the  issue  raised  by  the  amnesty  bill, 
it  was  possible  that  in  the  end  some  compromise 
would  be  agreed  upon  that  would  give  substantial 
satisfaction. 

Ariston  took  no  part  in  this  preliminary  skir- 
mish. As  we  walked  home  together  he  expressed 
to  me  his  satisfaction  at  what  had  occurred.  Peleas 
had  not  displayed  all  the  narrowness  of  which  he 
was  capable,  and  the  judiciousness  of  both  Masters 
and  Arkles  indicated  a  willingness  on  the  part  of 
both  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  fair  adjustment.  I 
was  myself,  however,  concerned  by  the  probability 
that  I  should  now  have  to  appear  before  the  inves- 

210 


The  Legislature  Meets 

tigating  committee.  My  regard  for  Masters,  as 
well  as  a  liking  for  Neaera,  of  which,  in  spite  of 
her  duplicity,  I  could  not  altogether  rid  myself, 
made  me  unwilling  to  state  all  that  had  occurred 
when  I  conveyed  Chairo's  message  to  Balbus.  I 
had  hoped  that  the  passage  of  the  amnesty  bill 
would  have  made  the  hearing  of  testimony  un- 
necessary; so  I  asked  Ariston  whether  I  would  be 
compelled  to  testify.  To  my  great  relief  Ariston 
assured  me  that  my  peculiar  position  as  a  guest 
of  the  community,  made  it  quite  possible  for  me 
to  ask  and  obtain  a  dispensation;  he  promised  to 
arrange  it  for  me. 

On  reaching  our  quarters  we  betook  ourselves 
as  usual  to  the  bath,  which,  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  was  warmed  to  a  suitable  temperature,  and 
after  our  plunge,  as  we  lay  upon  our  couches 
smoking  cigarettes,  I  asked  Ariston  whether  he 
had  seen  Anna  of  Ann  since  our  return  to  New 
York. 

"  No,"  answered  he,  "  it  is  difficult  to  see  her; 
she  is  working  all  day  at  the  factory,  in  order  to 
earn  a  full  month's  holiday  later;  she  is  eager  to 
complete  the  sculpture  on  which  she  is  engaged; 
and  that  father  of  hers  never  invites  any  one  to  his 
house! " 

"  I  have  never  met  her  father,"  said  I.    "  Her 

211 


The   Demetrian 

mother  I  have  seen  at  the  Lydia's,  but  her  father — 
what  kind  of  a  man  is  he?  " 

"  He  is  a  miser!  " 

"  A  miser!  "  exclaimed  I.  "  In  a  CoUectivist 
state!    How  is  that  possible?  " 

"  It  could  not  be  possible  in  a  purely  CoUect- 
ivist state;  but  as  soon  as  individual  industry  took 
an  important  development  it  became  possible." 

I  was  not  clear  about  this,  and  Ariston,  seeing 
the  confusion  in  my  face,  explained. 

"  Take  this  case  of  Campbell's,  for  example  " 
— Campbell  was  the  name  of  Anna's  father — "  as 
soon  as  Masters  got  at  the  head  of  several  in- 
dustrial enterprises  and  had  obtained  a  valuable 
credit  in  the  community,  Campbell  saw  that  there 
was  here  a  credit  to  exploit  and  a  real  service  to 
be  rendered  to  the  public,  so  he  induced  Masters 
to  start  a  bank,  and  the  bank  of  Masters  &  Camp- 
bell is  known  all  over  the  United  States.  But 
Campbell  can  explain  all  this  better  than  I  can; 
and  although  Campbell  never  asks  any  one  to  his 
house,  wc  can  ask  him  to  ours;  or,  better  still,  we 
can  ask  the  whole  family  to  dine  at  Theodore's 
— you  must  see  Theodore's;  his  restaurant  is  one 
of  our  institutions.  Come,"  he  added,  "  let  us  go 
at  once  to  their  building;  we  may  catch  Anna  of 
Ann  in  the  tea-room,  and  agree  upon  a  day." 

212 


The  Legislature  Meets 

We  dressed  rapidly,  and  on  the  way  I  expressed 
my  disgust  at  Anna's  having  to  work  in  a  factory 
when  all  her  time  might,  under  other  circum- 
stances, be  given  to  her  art. 

"  Are  you  quite  sure,"  asked  Ariston,  "  that  the 
enforced  rest  from  her  artistic  work  is  such  a  bad 
thing?  How  much  of  Michael  Angelo's  time  was 
spent  in  the  purely  mechanical  part  of  his  art? 
Then,  too,  there  is  no  reason  why  she  should  be 
compelled  to  work  in  the  factory  at  all.  Men  are 
all  obliged  to  give  the  required  quota  of  work  to 
the  state,  but  women  have  always  been  granted  dis- 
pensations, provided  somebody  undertook  either 
to  do  their  work  for  them  or  to  relieve  the  state  of 
their  support.  Now  if  Campbell  were  not  a  miser 
Anna  need  never  do  state  work.  And  if  Anna 
were  to  marry  an  industrious  and  capable  man  she 
need  never  do  state  work." 

I  looked  at  Ariston  significantly,  and  he  caught 
my  eye. 

"  I  saw  Irene  yesterday,"  he  said,  "  and  we 
spoke  of  it.  She  is  a  noble  woman,  and  the  eager- 
ness and  delight  with  which  she  heard  me  speak 
of  Anna  made  my  eyes  fill.  She  is  altogether  de- 
voted now  to  her  work  in  the  cloister;  she  is  ab- 
sorbed in  her  boy,  who  seems  to  combine  all  the 
vigor  of   Chairo   with   her  own   gentleness;   she 

213 


The  Demetriaii 

teaches  not  only  him  but  a  class  of  boys  of  his  age, 
and  is  doing  a  splendid  work  there.  I  have  quite 
given  up  the  idea  that  she  will  ever  marry  again." 

It  was  pretty  clear  that,  although  Ariston  was 
willing  to  admit  he  had  given  up  the  idea  of  mar- 
rying Irene,  he  was  not  willing  to  admit  that  he 
was  seriously  entertaining  the  idea  of  marrying 
any  one  else.  So  I  returned  to  our  original  sub- 
ject: 

"But  how  can  Campbell  hoard?"  asked  I. 
"  Isn't  your  money  valueless  two  years  after  its 
issue?  " 

"  Yes,  but  Campbell  has  made  a  money  of  his 
own;  besides,  before  he  did  this,  he  hoarded  gold." 

"  But  I  thought  all  the  gold  was  owned  by  the 
state  and  used  exclusively  for  foreign  exchanges?  " 

"  So  it  is — as  currency;  but  the  state  could  not 
refuse  to  allow  skillful  workers  in  the  precious 
metals  to  exercise  their  skill  in  ornaments,  and  so 
there  comes  into  the  market  not  only  state  manu- 
facture of  gold  and  silver,  but  also  for  some  years 
past  the  products  of  individual  enterprise.  Don't 
you  remember  the  beautiful  necklace  Neaera 
wears?  Lydia,  too;  even  Irene  wears  a  heavy 
bracelet  of  solid  gold." 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  say  that  Campbell 
hoards  ornaments?  " 

214 


The  Legislature  Meets 

"  My  dear  fellow,  there  is  nothing  unusual  in 
hoarding  ornaments;  most  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Rajahs  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  India  con- 
sisted of  ornaments  and  precious  stones;  and  later, 
the  hoarding  of  ornaments  by  the  natives  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  financial  difficulties  with  which 
the  English  Government  had  to  contend.  Then, 
too,  a  miser  is  not  actuated  by  intelligence;  he  is 
the  slave  of  an  instinct — the  hoarding  instinct. 
He  must  hoard  something,  and  as  there  is  no 
gold  coin  to  hoard,  Campbell  hoards  gold  orna- 
ments." 

We  found  that  both  Ann  and  Anna  had  left 
the  tea-room,  so  we  ventured  to  the  inhospitable 
door  of  their  apartment.  Anna  opened  it  to  us 
and  ushered  us  into  a  room  where  her  father  was 
sitting.  He  was  a  small  man  with  an  intelligent 
face,  but  the  hair  grew  on  his  head  in  a  manner 
that  was  characteristic;  some  people  would  have 
called  him  bald,  but  he  was  not  bald;  the  hair  was 
extremely  thin,  so  thin  that  it  gave  his  scalp  the 
appearance  of  not  being  perfectly  clean.  He 
greeted  us  courteously  and  inquiringly,  as  though 
we  could  not  have  called  upon  him  except  for 
some  definite  purpose.  So  Ariston  at  once  sug- 
gested that  he  and  his  family  should  join  us  that 
evening  at  Theodore's. 

215 


The   Demetrian 

^'  We  should  be  delighted,"  said  he.  "  But  we 
are  expecting  our  boy  this  evening — Harmes." 

Harmes  was  the  young  man  who  had  been  con- 
victed of  using  violence  with  Neaera  and  had  been 
sent  to  the  Penal  Colony. 

"  You  will  want  to  spend  your  first  evening 
with  Harmes  en  famille,'"  said  Ariston,  "  so  let  us 
say  to-morrow." 

Campbell  consulted  his  wife,  and  accepted. 

''When  does  Harmes  arrive?"  asked  Ariston. 

"  We  are  expecting  him  every  moment,"  an- 
swered Campbell. 

"  To-morrow,  then,  at  Theodore's  at  seven," 
said  Ariston,  and  we  left. 

The  absence  of  all  shame  as  to  the  imprison- 
ment of  Harmes  struck  me  as  remarkable,  but 
Ariston  soon  set  me  straight. 

"  You  are  possessed  by  the  notions  that  pre- 
vailed in  your  day — notions  that  resulted  in  great 
part  from  the  fact  that  most  of  your  criminals  were 
poor  and  dirty.  Your  system  created  a  residuum 
— a  criminal  class — as  surely  as  the  thresher  by 
sifting  out  the  wheat  leaves  behind  the  residuum 
we  call  chafif.  And  the  residuum  of  your  com- 
petitive system,  which  recognized  practically  only 
one  prize  (that  is  to  say,  money),  necessarily  con- 
sisted of  those  who  being  unable  to  earn  this  prize 

216 


The  Legislature  Meets 

became  destitute;  of  these  the  most  enterprising 
were  criminals,  the  least  enterprising,  paupers. 
This  is  the  state  of  things  to  which  Collectivism 
puts  an  end.  Because  all  work  for  the  state  all 
are  entitled  to  an  equal  share  in  the  national  in- 
come; there  are  no  destitute,  no  paupers,  no  crim- 
inal class.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  the  crim- 
inal, such  as  you  were  accustomed  to  see  him  in 
your  police  courts,  does  not  exist  among  us  at  all. 
Occasionally  a  man  is  tempted  beyond  endurance, 
as  in  the  case  of  Harmes,  or  in  the  case  of  Chairo 
and  his  confederates.  But  if  Chairo  were  con- 
victed and  sent  to  a  penal  colony,  he  would  on  his 
release  recover  the  social  position  to  which  he  was 
by  his  conduct  entitled  without  regard  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  served  a  term.  No  one  would  think 
of  applying  the  word  '  criminal '  to  either  Chairo 
or  Harmes.  Of  course  there  are  men  born 
among  us,  as  among  you,  with  what  may  be 
termed  truly  criminal  instinct  —  moral  perverts 
who  take  pleasure  in  causing  pain.  Such  are 
rarely  curable.  They  seldom  return  to  social 
life.  They  are  treated  like  lepers.  We  try  to 
make  their  lot  as  little  wretched  as  we  can.  But 
we  recognize  that  the  happiness  of  the  entire 
community  must  be  preferred  to  that  of  these 
exceptions;   they   are   kept   in   confinement,    and 

217 


The  Demetrian 

above  all,  they  are  not  allowed  to  perpetuate  the 
type." 

There  was  nothing  new  In  all  this.  We  were 
as  familiar  In  my  day  with  this  reasoning  as  Aris- 
ston.  But  we  were  dominated  by  our  Institutions, 
our  penal  codes,  our  criminal  lawyers,  our  prisons, 
and,  above  all,  our  amazing  doctrines  of  indi- 
vidual liberty,  which  vindicated  it  for  the  crim- 
inal and  disregarded  It  for  the  worklngman.  So 
that  the  Industrious  were  bound  to  as  enforced 
labor  as  the  convict  all  the  time,  whereas  the  con- 
vict was  periodically  let  loose  on  the  community 
to  idle  and  to  steal. 


218 


CHAPTER   XX 

ON   FLAVORS  AND   FINANCE 

NEXT  evening  we  met  at  Theodore's  res- 
taurant and  sat  down  to  a  dinner,  which 
reminded   me   of   the   best   I   had   ever 
tasted  in  Paris. 

Theodore  himself  was  a  type.  Rather  short 
in  stature  and  stout,  he  had  a  large  head  off  which 
was  combed  thick  hair,  treated  very  much  as  a 
sculptor  would  treat  hair  in  a  monument.  For 
Theodore  took  himself  very  seriously.  He  be- 
lieved gastronomy  to  be  one  of  the  fine  arts,  and 
that  he  was  its  high  priest.  He  would  never 
allow  any  one  to  joke  about  it,  and  admitted  to 
his  restaurant  only  those  who  behaved  toward 
him  with  the  respect  to  which  he  felt  entitled. 

He  received  us  at  the  door  with  a  napkin  over 
his  arm,  for  of  this  napkin  he  was  as  proud  as  a 
British  peer  of  his  robes;  it  was  the  emblem  of 
his  art,  and  as  such  he  bore  it  proudly.  Ariston 
greeted  him  and  introduced  us  to  him  each  by 
name.    He  bowed  at  every  introduction. 

219 


The   Demetrian 

"  And  now,"  said  Ariston,  turning  to  us,  "  you 
have  before  you  the  greatest  culinary  artist  in  the 
world." 

Theodore  smiled  sadly — as  indeed  he  might — 
for  possessed  of  the  finest  palate  in  New  York,  he 
had  for  years  been  confined,  by  an  ungovernable 
indigestion,  to  a  milk  diet. 

Theodore  showed  us  to  a  private  room,  and 
explained  that  he  meant  to  open  the  ceremonies 
with  a  pot  au  feu  garbure,  and  that  the  cheese 
used  on  the  toasi:  had  just  arrived  from  France. 
He  left  us  to  seat  ourselves,  and  very  soon  after 
we  were  settled,  the  door  was  thrown  open  by  his 
son  and  Theodore  appeared,  with  an  air  of  almost 
stern  solemnity,  holding  a  silver  soup  tureen  in 
both  hands,  the  inevitable  napkin  on  his  arm.  He 
placed  the  soup  tureen  on  a  side  table,  lifted  off 
the  lid,  and  with  religious  care  ladled  the  soup 
into  plates,  carefully  providing  that  each  had  his 
share  of  the  preciously  prepared  toast. 

A  chorus  of  approval  from  us  brought  the  sad 
smile  back  into  his  face  again,  and  as  we  sat  he 
told  us  that  he  had  ^'  created  "  a  new  dish  for  us. 
He  was  very  particular  about  the  use  of  this  word 
*'  created."  He  kept  a  list  of  his  special  dishes, 
and  Ariston  told  us  afterwards  that  he  had  once 
asked  Theodore  for  this  list,  describing  it  as  the 

220 


On  Flavors  and  Finance 

list  of  his  inventions.  Theodore  had  offendedly 
corrected  him.  "  Creations^  you  mean."  The  dish 
he  had  created  for  us  that  day  was  a  pheasant 
stuffed  with  ortolans,  all  cooked  in  their  own  juice 
— braise — over  a  slow  fire  during  six  hours.  He 
explained  that  it  was  a  great  mistake  to  roast 
pheasants.  For  those  who  insisted  on  his  roasting 
them  he  provided  himself  with  vine  twigs  (sar- 
ments) ,  the  fire  made  with  them  imparting  a  subtle 
flavor  to  the  meat.  But  the  meat  of  a  pheasant 
though  delicious  was  dry,  and  the  method  he  had 
adopted  was  altogether  the  best  for  bringing  out 
the  full  meaning  of  the  bird.  The  same  was  true 
of  ortolans. 

Theodore  did  not  appear  more  than  twice:  at 
the  opening  ceremony  of  the  soup  and  at  the 
climax — the  newly  created  combination.  While 
we  were  partaking  of  this  last,  he  told  us  of  a  great 
discussion  that  was  about  to  be  settled  as  to  the 
respective  flavor  of  three  kinds  of  mutton.  He 
had  been  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  Long  Island 
breed,  and  had  that  day  selected  the  sheep  which 
was  to  have  the  honor  of  representing  Long  Island 
interests.  He  explained  that  much  depended  on 
the  choice  of  the  animal.  In  his  selection  he  had 
picked  out  one  upon  whose  hind  legs  were  the 
tooth  marks  of  the  shepherd  dog,  for  these  marks 

221 


The  Demetrian 

showed  him  to  be  so  keen  on  sweet  pasture  that  it 
took  an  actual  bite  to  drive  him  from  it. 

Theodore  was  a  determined  individualist  and 
warm  supporter  of  Chairo's.  It  was  insufferable, 
he  said,  that  an  artist  like  himself — and  bowing 
condescendingly  to  Anna,  he  added — "  and  our 
young  lady,  too  " — should  have  to  work  half  the 
day  for  the  state,  when  under  individualistic  con- 
ditions thousands  of  rich  men  would  have  been 
delighted  to  cover  him  with  gold  in  recognition 
of  his  services.  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  a 
distinguished  cook  I  had  known  in  Paris  once 
who,  under  these  very  individualistic  conditions, 
had  struggled  with  debt  all  his  life  and  never 
escaped  from  it. 

After  Theodore  had  served  the  birds  he  with- 
drew. We  were  enjoying  the  dish  when  Anna 
surprised  us  by  saying,  as  though  she  had  just 
made  the  discovery: 

"This  is  really  quite  nice!" 

"  Why,  my  dear  child,"  said  her  father,  "  it 
is  a  chef  d'ceuvre\  What  have  you  been  thinking 
about  all  this  time?  " 

"I  have  been  looking  at  Theodore;  do  you 
know,  he  has  a  good  head  to  sculpt." 

We  all  laughed  at  this  view  of  Theodore,  and 
Harmes  said: 

222 


On   Flavors  and   Finance 

"  This  kind  of  thing  is  rather  a  jump  from 
what  we  have  at  the  colony." 

''  Is  the  food  bad  there?  "  asked  I. 

"No,  not  bad;  but  nothing  nice  until  we  can 
afford  to  pay  for  it  with  the  wages  we  earn." 

This  led  to  a  long  account  by  Harmes  of  how 
the  colony  was  managed  and  the  system — often 
proposed  in  my  day — for  slowly  restoring  the 
inmates  of  a  reformatory  to  social  life. 

Harmes  spoke  so  freely  of  the  whole  subject 
that  I  ventured  to  ask  him : 

"  And  Neaera — was  it  her  fault  or  yours?  " 

Harmes'  eye  flashed  a  moment,  and  then  look- 
ing around  the  table,  and  finally  at  Ariston,  asked: 

'^  Can  I  speak  freely?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Ariston.  "  Our  friend  here 
knows,  perhaps,  more  about  Neaera  than  you  do." 

"Am  I  to  condole  with  you,  then?"  asked 
Harmes. 

"  No,"  I  answered.  "  I  had  the  advantage 
over  you  of  age  and  experience." 

"  She  is  a  little  devil,"  said  Harmes.  "  And 
the  devil  of  it  is  that  if  I  were  to  see  her  to-mor- 
row I  believe  I  should  want  to  make  love  to  her 
again." 

"Harmes!"  exclaimed  his  mother  protest- 
ingly. 

223 


The   Demetrian 

"  Oh,  I  have  learned  my  lesson!  I  won't  make 
love  to  her  again;  but  the  amazing  thing  is  that 
after  all  she  has  cost  me  I  cannot  make  up  my 
mind  to  dislike  her  as  I  ought." 

"  You  needn't  dislike  her,"  said  Ariston,  "  any 
more  than  you  need  dislike  a  stone  that  breaks 
your  leg." 

"  I  cannot  but  think,  however,"  said  Camp- 
bell, *'  that  the  punishment  was  out  of  proportion 
to  the  ofifense." 

"  No,"  said  Ann,  to  my  great  surprise.  "  You 
must  not  say  that.  No  one  has  suffered  more  from 
Harmes'  confinement  in  the  colony  than  I,  and 
yet  I  am  bound  to  say  that  violence  is  to  my  mind 
— and  to  the  mind  of  all  of  us  women — so  danger- 
ous a  thing  that  I  prefer  my  son  should  be  an  in- 
nocent victim  than  that  it  should  go  unpunished." 

We  had  a  delicious  bottle  of  California  Bur- 
gundy with  our  birds,  and  I  asked  whether  this 
was  provided  by  the  state. 

"  Fortunately,"  said  Campbell,  "  the  state  has 
never  taken  the  vineyards  out  of  the  hands  of  those 
who  owned  them  at  the  time  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion. It  monopolizes  the  distillation  of  liquor,  but 
all  wines  not  containing  more  than  six  per  cent  al- 
cohol are  produced  by  individual  enterprise.  The 
owners  have  to  contribute  a  stipulated  quota  to  the 

224 


On   Flavors  and   Finance 

state,  as  in  the  case  of  all  agricultural  products. 
The  surplus  belongs  to  them;  but  as  the  money 
they  get  from  the  state  has  no  value  two  years  after 
issue,  we  find  in  this  very  class  the  best  customers 
for  our  bank." 

We  had  by  this  time  finished  our  dinner;  the 
coffee  and  cigars  were  before  us,  and  the  company 
settled  themselves  for  a  long  talk  on  the  working 
of  their  system,  all  of  which  was  of  great  interest 
to  me,  a  traveller  from  the  past. 

The  minutes  passed  rapidly  in  this  interesting 
exchange  of  experiences  until  Anna  and  Ann,  who 
had  long  shown  signs  of  ennui,  arose  to  depart,  and 
Ariston,  noting  their  desire  to  leave,  paid  the  bill 
and  we  left. 


225 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE  INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE 

MEANWHILE,  the  investigating  commit- 
tee had  been  appointed,  and  the  day 
came  when  witnesses  were  to  be  exam- 
ined. The  committee  sat  in  the  afternoon  only,  so 
as  to  make  it  possible  for  all  to  attend  without 
sacrificing  their  state  work.  Masters,  of  course, 
was  there,  Chairo,  too,  and  Ariston,  who  con- 
tinued to  act  for  Chairo.  Ariston  had  consulted 
with  me  as  to  the  wisdom  of  preparing  Masters 
for  the  testimony  implicating  Neaera,  which  we 
knew  would  be  elicited.  But  I  preferred  to  allow 
events  to  take  their  course. 

The  first  witness  called  was  one  of  those  who 
had  attacked  the  House  of  Detention  and  been 
wounded.  He  had  clearly  remained  devoted  to 
Chairo;  for  to  every  question  put  to  him,  which 
tended  to  implicate  Chairo,  he  displayed  astonish- 
ing forgetfulness;  but  as  soon  as  the  examination 
bore  upon  my  interview  with  Balbus,  at  which  he 

226 


The  Investigating  Committee 

had  been  present,  he  stated  every  circumstance  ex- 
actly as  it  had  happened,  except  that  he  was,  per- 
haps, more  severe  on  Neaera  than  she  deserved. 

"  She  would  not  allow  Balbus  to  speak,"  he 
said.  "  She  walked  right  over  from  the  corner 
where  she  was  writing  and  wouldn't  allow  Balbus 
to  say  a  word." 

He  even  insisted  that  it  was  Neaera  who  had 
ordered  my  arrest,  and  personally  supervised  the 
act  of  binding  me  to  the  chair. 

Masters'  brow  grew  dark  at  this  attack  on 
Neaera,  and  he  undertook  to  cross-examine  the 
witness,  but  did  it  clumsily  and  ineffectually.  His 
principal  effort  was  to  induce  the  witness  to  admit 
that  Neaera  had  already  received  orders  from 
Chairo  that  an  attempt  at  rescue  was  to  be  made 
whatever  apparently  contradictory  messages  might 
be  received,  whether  purporting  to  come  from 
him,  Chairo,  or  from  others. 

This  line  of  cross-examination  incensed  Chairo, 
who  was  indirectly  charged  by  it  with  having  sent 
me  on  a  message  for  the  purpose  of  assuming  an 
air  of  innocence,  when  he  all  the  time  intended  the 
attempt  at  rescue  to  be  made. 

Ariston  with  great  difficulty  kept  Chairo  from 
angry  interruption;  and  on  redirect  examination, 
which  he  was  allowed  in  Chairo's  interest  to  con- 

227 


The  Demetrian 

duct,  strengthened  the  evidence  of  Chairo's  good 
faith. 

The  next  witness  was  clearly  of  Hibernian  de- 
scent, for  he  at  once  took  the  entire  committee  and 
audience  into  his  confidence.  "  I'll  tell  you  all 
about  it,"  he  said.  "  I'm  the  janitor  of  the  '  Lib- 
erty' offices,  and  I  know  all  about  it  from  the 
beginning." 

He  then  proceeded  to  give  a  complete  history 
of  his  own  life  from  the  earliest  years  he  could 
remember,  and  he  assured  us  that  he  would  go  still 
further  back  if  he  could;  that  he  had  nothing  to 
conceal  from  the  committee,  and  would  tell  them 
"  all  about  it  from  the  very  beginning." 

Over  and  over  again  he  was  interrupted  by  the 
committee,  who  complained  of  the  irrelevancy  of 
his  testimony.  "  And  would  you  have  me  hold 
anything  back?  "  he  said  indignantly.  "  Haven't 
I  sworn  to  tell  the  whole  truth  as  well  as  nothing 
but  the  truth?" 

"  We  only  want  to  hear  you  in  connection  with 
the  organization  and  arming  of  forces  by  Chairo 
with  a  view  to  violence  and  the  subsequent  attempt 
upon  the  House  of  Detention." 

"  And  haven't  I  known  Chairo  all  my  life,"  re- 
sponded the  witness  triumphantly,  "  and  isn't  that 
just  what  I'm  telling  you?    Just  leave  me  quiet," 

228 


The  Investigating  Committee 

he  added,  "  and  I'll  tell  you  the  whole  thing  from 
the  beginning." 

The  committee,  thinking  time  would  in  the 
end  be  saved,  gave  the  witness  rope,  of  which  he 
was  not  slow  to  take  advantage,  for  he  interlarded 
his  narrative  with  stories  so  comic  that  the  com- 
mittee was  at  last  obliged  to  interfere  again.  But 
his  wit  was  equal  to  every  emergency,  and  after 
an  hour  spent  in  the  futile  effort  to  extract  infor- 
mation from  him,  he  was  released.  A  broad  wink 
at  Chairo  as  he  left  the  witness  box  set  the  audi- 
ence in  a  roar,  but  did  not  help  Chairo's  case. 

The  third  witness  was  another  of  the  party 
which  had  attacked  the  House  of  Detention,  and 
he  clearly  was  actuated  by  no  desire  to  shield 
Chairo,  for  he  testified  to  details  so  damaging  to 
him  that  no  one  had  any  longer  any  doubt  as  to 
Chairo  having  organized  a  vast  conspiracy  against 
the  state.  He  had  himself  been  one  of  Chairo's 
lieutenants,  and  he  gave  the  names  of  the  men 
that  had  joined  him,  the  weapons  that  had  been 
secured,  the  date  of  his  first  instructions  from 
Chairo,  and  their  tenor;  in  fact,  nothing  was  left 
untold.  He  was  not  present  when  I  carried 
Chairo's  message  to  Balbus. 

Ariston  cross-examined  him  with  great  skill, 
tripped  him  up  as  to  some  of  his  dates  and  details, 

229 


The  Demetrian 

and  even  threw  sonae  confusion  into  his  testimony 
regarding  the  character  of  the  instructions.  But 
as  to  the  main  facts  his  testimony  was  unshaken. 

The  examination  and  cross-examination  of 
these  three  witnesses  occupied  the  whole  of  the 
first  day;  and  as  Chairo,  Ariston,  and  I  returned 
slowly  to  our  quarters  we  found  it  difficult  to 
speak.  Chairo  was  still  angry  with  Masters,  and 
expressed  himself  on  the  subject  in  a  few  explosive 
sentences.  Ariston  reminded  Chairo  that  Masters 
was  an  old  admirer  of  Neaera's,  and  I  felt  almost 
guilty  at  withholding  from  them  that  he  had  ac- 
tually married  her. 

After  our  plunge,  Ariston  and  I  brightened 
up  a  little,  but  Chairo  remained  profoundly  de- 
pressed. 

"  The  fact  is,"  he  said,  "  I  am  beginning  to 
look  at  things  from  a  different  point  of  view.  This 
military  organization  of  ours  was  a  gigantic  mis- 
take." 

^'  Violence  can  only  be  justified,"  said  Ariston, 
"  by  some  public  necessity  or  injustice;  no  isolated 
personal  grievance  can  possibly  justify  it." 

"  We  thought  that  this  whole  Demetrian  cult 
had  become  a  social  evil,  but  others  evidently  do 


not." 


Chairo's  manner  had  so  changed  from  what  it 
230 


The  Investigating  Committee 

was  when  I  first  met  him  among  the  hills  of 
Tyringham  that  my  mind  was  set  upon  inquiring 
as  to  the  cause,  and  I  could  not  help  suspecting 
that  his  misgivings  were  for  the  most  part  due  to 
Lydia. 

I  felt  that  I  was  de  trop  and  found  some  excuse 
for  leaving  them. 

Later  Ariston  told  me  that  although  Chairo 
was  profoundly  discouraged,  strange  to  say,  he 
had  expressed  little  concern  about  himself  or  his 
political  aims;  what  he  used  to  describe  as  "The 
Cause,"  and  really  meant  his  own  ambition,  seemed 
to  have  entirely  passed  out  of  his  mind;  his  whole 
concern  now  was  for  Lydia. 

The  examination  of  witnesses  during  the  next 
few  days  resulted  in  a  confirmation  of  all  the  facts 
brought  out  on  the  first  day;  Chairo  had  clearly 
undertaken  a  vast  and  dangerous  conspiracy 
against  the  state ;  he  had,  in  good  faith,  sought  at 
the  last  moment  to  prevent  violence,  and  Neaera 
was  wholly  responsible  for  the  attempt  at  rescue. 
Masters  and  his  following  alone  persisted  in  en- 
deavoring to  shield  Neaera.  According  to  them, 
instructions  had  been  given  by  Chairo  to  both 
Balbus  and  Neaera  that  in  case  of  any  accident 
happening  to  himself,  the  attempt  was  to  be  made 
to  rescue  him,  and  that  this  attempt  was  to  serve 

231 


The  Demetrian 

as  an  excuse  for  the  violence  which  they  felt  in- 
dispensable to  the  defeat  of  the  Demetrian  cult. 

As  the  examination  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
Ariston  pointed  out  to  me  that  I  was  probably  the 
only  man  who  could  persuade  Masters  of  his  mis- 
take; he  also  urged  that  not  only  Chairo's  fate 
hung  in  the  balance  but  Lydia's  also. 

Ariston  told  me  that  Lydia's  letters  to  him 
plainly  showed  that  her  own  hopes  as  to  the  pass- 
age of  the  amnesty  bill  had  come  to  an  end,  and 
that  the  subject  under  discussion  between  them 
now  was  what  they  should  do  in  case  the  amnesty 
bill  was  not  passed. 

While  we  were  talking  over  the  matter  in  our 
apartment,  we  were  astonished  to  receive  the  visit 
of  Masters,  for  of  late  Masters  had  failed  to  recog- 
nize any  of  our  party  in  the  courthouse,  and  we 
feared  that  the  issue  regarding  Neaera's  responsi- 
bility had  occasioned  a  permanent  break  in  the 
ranks  of  the  opposition. 

When  Masters  entered  the  room  he  made  no 
pretense  of  cordiality;  he  apologized  convention- 
ally for  intruding,  and  explained  that  his  visit  was 
due  to  a  letter  received  from  Neaera  that  day,  in 
which  she  had  urged  him  to  see  me,  as  she  was 
convinced  I  could  set  his  mind  at  rest  regarding 
her  innocence. 

232 


The  Investigating  Committee 

I  perceived  without  difficulty  that  Neaera 
must  have  been  reduced  to  desperate  straits  in 
order  to  have  recourse  to  such  a  reckless  measure, 
and  that  the  correspondence  between  Masters  and 
her  must  have  betrayed  considerable  doubt  in 
Masters's  mind  as  to  the  truth  of  her  statements 
concerning  her  connection  with  the  business.  I 
was  determined  to  learn  from  Masters  as  far  as 
possible  what  was  his  present  attitude  to  Neaera. 
So  I  asked : 

"  You  have  heard  the  witnesses ;  what  is  your 
own  impression  of  the  matter?  " 

"  You  could  not  expect  me  to  believe  them, 
could  you?  " 

There  was  an  expression  of  agony  on  Masters's 
brow  which  made  me  feel  strongly  drawn  to  him. 

"  Shall  Ariston  stay  while  we  talk  about  this?  " 
asked  I. 

"  Yes,"  said  Masters,  turning  to  Ariston.  ''  It 
is  well  that  you  should  know  that  Neaera  is  my 
wife." 

Ariston  put  up  both  hands  with  an  involuntary 
expression  of  dismay,  the  significance  of  which 
Masters  did  not  fail  to  take  in.  He  looked  at  me 
half  in  despair,  half  in  inquiry. 

"  Ariston  understands  now,"  I  said,  "  why  you 
have  undertaken  to  vindicate  Neaera." 

233 


The   Demetrian 

"  I  should  have  undertaken  to  vindicate  her  in 
any  event,"  answered  Masters.  "  She  is  a  woman, 
and  a  concerted  effort  is  being  directed  toward 
making  a  scapegoat  of  her." 

"  The  witnesses,"  I  answered,  "  are  certainly 
unanimous  on  the  subject." 

"  From  what  you  say,"  Masters  said,  "  I  gather 
that  you  do  not  disbelieve  them." 

The  veins  in  Masters's  forehead  were  swelling 
with  the  effort  he  was  making  to  hide  his  indigna- 
tion. 

"  I  have  been  at  great  pains  to  be  released 
from  the  obligation  of  testifying,"  I  answered, 
"  because  I  have  not  wished  to  injure  her,  because, 
above  all,"  I  added,  "  I  have  not  wished  to  injure 
you." 

We  had  remained  standing  during  this  conver- 
sation, but  when  I  said  this — and  in  saying  it  I 
tried  to  make  Masters  feel  that  I  was  sorry  for 
him — he  turned  away  a  little  and  sank  sideways 
upon  a  chair.  He  leaned  one  arm  on  the  back  of 
it,  bowing  his  head  upon  his  hand,  and  after  a 
moment's  pause  turned  to  me  again;  his  face  was 
white  now. 

"  If  that  is  your  reason  for  not  testifying  I  am 
obliged  to  you,"  he  said.  "  But  which  is  your  real 
reason — to  spare  Neaera  or  to  spare  me?  " 

234 


The  Investigating  Committee 

"  I  have  no  more  reason  for  sparing  Neaera 
than  that  she  is  a  woman;  I  have  every  reason  for 
sparing  you." 

Masters  looked  at  me  inquiringly. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  conceal  from  you,"  I  con- 
tinued. 

"  Then  tell  me  just  what  happened,"  answered 
Masters. 

I  took  a  seat  and  so  did  Ariston,  and  thought 
for  a  moment  how  I  could  tell  the  facts  in  so  far 
as  they  concerned  the  attempt  at  rescue  without 
disclosing  Neaera's  designs  upon  myself.  I  con- 
fined myself  to  the  part  she  played  when  I  gave 
Chairo's  message  to  Balbus. 

"  Might  not  this  have  been  done  by  Neaera," 
asked  Masters,  "  in  compliance  with  a  prior  un- 
derstanding with  Chairo?  " 

"  I  cannot  believe,"  said  I,  "  that  there  was  any 
such  understanding;  indeed,  I  am  convinced  that 
if  Neaera  was  not  herself  the  cause  of  Chairo's 
capture,  she  was  a  party  to  it."  I  told  then  the 
story  of  the  tampering  with  Chairo's  carriage. 

*'  Could  not  this,  too,  have  been  a  part  of  the 
plot?  "  pleaded  Masters  desperately. 

"  A  part  of  Neaera's  plot,  not  a  part  of  Chai- 
ro's. No  one  can  talk  ten  minutes  with  Chairo 
now  without  being  convinced  that  his  first  object 

235 


The  Demetrian 

was  to  get  possession  of  Lydia;  the  political  in- 
trigue in  the  latest  stage  of  the  affair  became 
altogether  a  secondary  matter." 

"  Neaera  was  not,"  interrupted  Ariston, 
*'  pleased  with  the  role  Lydia  played  in  the  mat- 
ter. At  one  time  there  was  no  small  intimacy 
between  Chairo  and  Neaera;  Neaera  is  not  a 
woman  to  see  her  place  taken  by  another  with- 
out vindictiveness.  In  preventing  the  escape  of 
Chairo  she  was  serving  a  double  purpose;  she 
kept  the  issue  alive,  and  she  satisfied  a  personal 
pique." 

Masters  looked  at  me  as  though  to  learn  my 
opinion  on  this  view. 

*'  I  gathered  this :  from  a  few  words  Neaera 
dropped  after  she  had  set  me  free,"  I  said;  ''she 
told  me  that  all  Chairo  wanted  was  Lydia." 

Masters  jumped  up  from  his  chair. 

"  Then  you  would  have  me  believe,"  said  he, 
"  that  my  wife  is  a  vixen !  " 

At  this  I  jumped  up  too. 

"  Masters,"  I  said,  "  I  have  told  you  the  facts 
because  I  felt  you  were  entitled  to  them.  If  you 
cannot  stand  hearing  the  facts  you  should  not 
have  asked  for  them." 

There  was  a  moment  when  it  seemed  doubt- 
ful whether  we  might  not  come  to  blows ;  but  the 

236 


The   Investigating   Committee 

flash  went  out  of  Masters's  eye  as  he  looked  at  me, 
and  presently  he  held  out  his  hand  to  me  and  said: 
"  I  am  sure  you  have  intended  to  render  me  a 
service,  and  I  suppose  in  the  end  " — he  paused  a 
moment  as  he  shook  my  hand,  and  added — "  in 
the  end  it  will  prove  to  be  so." 

Then,  taking  up  his  cap  and  cloak,  he  said : 
"  At  any  rate  there  need  be  no  hard  feeling 
between  myself  and  Chairo,  but  I  am  a  little  dazed 
by  what  I  have  heard,  and  so  I  shall  ask  you  both 
to  keep  this  interview  confidential  for  a  time.  In 
a  few  days  I  shall  know  better  just  how  to  act." 


237 


CHAPTER   XXII 

"TREASONS,   STRATAGEMS,  AND  SPOILS" 

BUT  as  Masters  walked  homeward  his  ir- 
resolution disappeared.  He  saw  that  his 
love  for  Neaera  and  his  amour  propre  had 
blinded  him  to  the  real  significance  of  the  testi- 
mony elicited  by  the  investigating  committee. 
Taking  together  the  unanimity  of  this  testimony, 
the  breaking  down  of  Chairo's  carriage,  the  ten- 
dresse  that  Neaera  had  certainly  once  entertained 
for  Chairo,  the  duplicity  with  which  he  had  over 
and  over  again  heard  Neaera  charged,  certain 
ambiguities  in  some  of  her  own  statements,  and 
this  last  barefaced  appeal  to  me,  there  could  be 
no  more  doubt.  He  rehearsed  the  interview  at 
which  he  had  asked  her  to  marry  him;  he  had 
been  trapped  by  a  show  of  indignation  and  a  tear- 
ful eye. 

By  the  time  he  reached  his  rooms  his  mind  was 
made  up.  He  sat  down  and  wrote  the  following 
letter: 

238 


"Treasons,   Stratagems,   and  Spoils" 

"Dear  Neaera:  I  am  afraid  that  the  facts 
which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  your  being  responsible  for  the  attack  on  the 
House  of  Detention.  You  are  charged,  too,  with 
having  tampered  with  Chairo's  carriage  in  order 
to  prevent  his  escape  with  Lydia.  Shall  I  inves- 
tigate this  matter,  or  would  it  not  perhaps  be 
better  for  you  to  turn  over  the  leaf  and  start  a 
clean  page  somewhere  else?  I  am  prepared  to  do 
what  is  needful  in  order  to  make  this  easy  to  you, 
and  send  you  by  the  messenger  who  hands  this  to 
you  money  for  your  immediate  necessities.  Should 
you  wish  your  mother  to  accompany  you,  I  shall 
provide  for  her  also.  Meanwhile,  of  course,  we 
can  arrange  to  undo  the  marriage  that  was  some- 
what hastily  celebrated. 

"  Yours, 

"  Masters." 


Neaera  was  not  far  from  New  York.  She  and 
her  mother  were  both  occupying  a  cottage  belong- 
ing to  Masters  in  New  Jersey,  behind  the  Pali- 
sades. Her  mother  was  a  widow  and  a  cipher. 
She  had  been  a  helpless  spectator  of  her  daugh- 
ter's too  brilliant  adventures,  and  was  accustomed 
to  sudden  changes. 

When  Neaera  received  Masters's  letter  she 
sent  word  to  him  she  would  be  in  New  York 
that  night.  Masters  on  receiving  the  message 
packed  a  small  portmanteau  and  went  to  Boston, 

239 


The  Demetrian 

leaving  word  with  his  aunt,  who  kept  house  for 
him,  to  receive  Neaera  should  she  arrive. 

Masters  was  unwilling  to  subject  himself  to 
a  scene  with  Neaera.  While  his  messenger  was 
away  evidence  had  been  presented  to  him  which 
left  no  doubt  as  to  Neaera  having  tampered  with 
Chairo's  carriage;  and  this  was  more  than  suffi- 
cient as  a  last  straw.  He  felt  he  had  been  unac- 
countably weak  in  his  previous  personal  encoun- 
ters with  her  and  that  she  was  now  counting  upon 
this  weakness.  It  is  not  easy  for  a  man  to  turn  a 
woman  out  of  his  house,  nor  to  hand  over  to  the 
authorities  a  political  refugee  who  has  entrusted 
herself  to  his  care.  To  keep  Neaera  in  his  rooms 
under  the  circumstances  would  have  been  con- 
sistent neither  with  what  he  owed  the  state  nor 
with  what  he  owed  himself.  He  trusted,  there- 
fore, to  Neaera's  intelligence  to  conclude  from 
his  departure  that  his  decision  was  irrevocable. 

Meanwhile,  Lydia  had  left  Tyringham  and 
returned  to  New  York.  This  had  not  happened 
without  considerable  negotiation,  for  it  had  been 
part  of  the  understanding  upon  which  Chairo  had 
been  released  on  parole  that  Lydia  was  to  remain 
away  from  New  York.  The  intention  of  this  ar- 
rangement was  to  prevent  Chairo  from  further 

240 


"Treasons,   Stratagems,   and  Spoils" 

compromising  Lydia,  pending  the  determination 
of  his  case.  But  Lydia  had  been  of  late  so  much 
disturbed  by  Chairo's  letters  that  she  had  come  to 
a  decision  which  she  proceeded  at  once,  if  pos- 
sible, to  carry  out,  and  as  a  first  step  toward  doing 
so,  it  was  indispensable  that  she  should  go  to  New 
York. 

She  sent,  therefore,  to  Irene  the  letter  from 
Chairo  which  had  particularly  exercised  her  and 
asked  Irene  whether,  under  the  circumstances,  she 
could  not  once  more  be  received  at  the  cloister, 
no  longer  as  a  Demetrian  but  as  one  in  retreat, 
in  order  that  she  might  concert  with  Irene  and 
other  members  of  the  council  as  to  the  course  she 
proposed  to  pursue. 

The  letter  from  Chairo — or  rather  the  extract 
from  it — which  she  sent  to  Irene  ran  as  follows: 

"  I  could  ask  no  one  but  you  to  believe  how 
differently  my  own  acts  appear  to  me  when  I 
looked  back  upon  them  some  weeks  ago  with  the 
glamour  that  self-deception  threw  around  them 
and  when  I  hear  them  to-day  coldly  recited  in  the 
witness  box.  During  the  examination  I  have 
asked  myself  whether  the  witnesses  I  have  heard 
testifying  before  the  investigating  committee  were 
really  telling  about  me,  or  were  not  rather  telling 
of  events  which  have  happened  only  in  a  night- 
mare. And  when  I  push  my  self-examination  fur- 
ther, I  see  that  the  difference  lies  in  this:  At  the 

241 


The  Demetrian 

time  I  prepared  our  forces  for  violence  I  was 
thinking  of  myself;  now,  I  am  thinking  of  you. 

"  I  do  not  disguise  from  myself  that  the  story 
narrated  by  more  than  a  dozen  witnesses  regard- 
ing my  actions  prior  to  your  acceptance  of  the 
mission,  condemns  me  to  an  extent  that  makes  the 
passage  of  an  amnesty  bill — so  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned— difficult  if  not  impossible.  The  question, 
therefore,  arises,  What  am  I  to  do?  I  am  per- 
fectly prepared  to  take  my  punishment  myself, 
but  it  almost  makes  me  die  to  think  that  I  am 
dragging  you  with  me  into  disgrace.  I  have 
thought  that  probably  I  am  at  this  moment  the 
chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  a  conclusion  of  this 
business;  that  if  I  were  not  fighting  for  my  own 
release,  the  others  would  be  pardoned  easily 
enough.  I  would  willingly  bear  the  brunt  of  it 
all  were  it  not  for  you.  My  perplexity  is,  that  in 
fighting  for  you  I  am  fighting  also  for  myself." 

Irene  discussed  the  possibility  of  Lydia's  re- 
turn to  the  cloister  with  her  colleagues,  and  the 
extract  from  Chairo's  letter  was  read  to  them. 
Masters,  also,  was  consulted;  for  his  efifort  to  de- 
fend Neaera's  reputation  had  enlisted  him  against 
Chairo  on  the  side  of  the  cult,  and  he  had,  there- 
fore, been  occasionally  admitted  to  their  counsels. 
It  was  finally  decided  that  in  view  of  Chairo's 
present  attitude — the  sincerity  of  which  very  few 
were  disposed  to  doubt — and  in  view  of  the  course 
Lydia  proposed  to  adopt,  she  should  be  readmitted 

242 


"Treasons,   Stratagems,  and   Spoils" 

to  retreat  in  the  cloister,  though  it  was  deemed 
wise  to  give  as  little  publicity  to  this  return  as 
possible. 

Masters,  however,  had  told  Neaera  of  it,  and 
when  Neaera  arrived  at  Masters's  rooms  to  find 
that  he  had  left  New  York,  her  agile  and  vindic- 
tive mind  immediately  set  itself  to  a  combination 
of  "  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils,"  in  which 
somehow  or  another  she  wanted  Lydia  and  Chairo 
to  play  a  part — a  part  that  would  give  some  satis- 
faction to  her  spite.  Then,  too,  there  was  some- 
where in  her  mind  the  possibility  that  if,  as  she 
understood,  Chairo  was  hard  pressed,  and  if,  as 
she  hoped,  Lydia  was  to  any  degree  alienated 
from  him  through  the  influence  of  the  cloister, 
Chairo  might  be  induced  to  share  her  evils  with 
her.  There  were  chapters  in  their  past  that  he 
might  not  find  it  distasteful  to  rehearse. 

Neaera  on  arriving  in  New  York  found  Mas- 
ters's aunt  fussily  desirous  to  be  useful  to  her,  and 
yet  very  anxious  at  the  thought  that  she  was  har- 
boring a  political  runaway.  Neaera  had  arrived 
after  dark,  so  veiled  as  to  escape  recognition.  She 
was  nerved  for  an  encounter  with  Masters,  in 
which  she  was  by  feminine  dexterity  to  dissipate 
the  suspicions  to  which  he  had  fallen  too  easy  a 
prey,  and  the  news  that  he  was  gone  had  for  first 

243 


The  Demetrian 

effect  to  make  her  restlessly  anxious  to  do  some- 
thing. She  therefore  asked  whether  two  notes 
could  be  delivered  by  private  messenger  that  night, 
one  to  Lydia  and  one  to  Chairo.  After  inquiry, 
arrangements  were  made  to  do  this,  and  Neaera 
sat  down  to  contrive  her  little  plot.  The  first 
part  of  it  was  simple  enough.  She  wrote  to  Lydia 
that  she  had  come  to  New  York  at  great  personal 
risk  expressly  to  see  her  on  a  matter  of  vital  im- 
portance, and  asked  her  to  come  the  next  morning 
punctually  at  ten.  To  Chairo  she  showed  less 
solicitude:  she  confined  herself  to  the  bare  state- 
ment of  her  whereabouts,  and  that  she  would  be 
alone  next  morning  at  a  quarter  past  ten  till  half 
past.  The  messenger  was  directed  not  to  wait  for 
an  answer  to  either  note. 

The  next  morning,  punctually  at  ten,  Lydia, 
to  Neaera's  delight,  was  shown  into  Masters's 
study. 

"  I  had  to  see  you,"  said  Neaera,  kissing  her. 
She  dismissed  the  aunt,  begging  her  not  to  admit 
any  other  persons  without  announcing  them,  and 
put  Lydia  down  on  a  sofa.  She  sat  next  to  Lydia 
and  took  her  hand. 

«"  I  am  afraid  you  don't  like  me,"  she  said. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  answered  Lydia,  "  I  like 
you,  but  I  differ  from  you." 

244 


"Treasons,   Stratagems,   and  Spoils" 

"  Yes,  I  know;  we  differ  on  almost  everything; 
on  the  cult,  on  state  employment,  on  personal  lib- 
erty, etc.,  etc.,  but  then,  we  have  one  thing  in  com- 
mon, we  are  both  women." 

Lydia  looked  a  little  puzzled.  This  abstract 
conversation  was  not  what  she  had  been  prepared 
by  Neaera's  note  to  expect. 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sure,"  she  said,  "  that  it  is  not 
just  about  womanhood  that  we  differ  most." 

"Lydia!"  answered  Neaera  reproachfully. 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  wound  you,"  said  Lydia 
quickly.  "  There  is  so  much  room  for  honest  dif- 
ference of  opinion  that  I  do  not  undertake  to  set 
my  opinion  against  yours,  or  indeed  anyone's. 
But  is  it  not  dangerous  for  you  to  be  here?  " 

Neaera  smiled  consciously,  and  said: 

''  I  am  not  thinking  of  that.  I  came  to  see  you 
because  I  felt  you  ought  to  be  put  right,  and  I 
want  to  do  right;  in  the  first  place,  you  will  be 
misled  if  you  believe  the  wicked  falsehoods  that 
are  being  circulated  in  order  to  put  the  whole 
blame  for  what  has  occurred  upon  me.  I  should 
never  have  left  New  York  of  my  own  will.  Mas- 
ters forced  me  to  go,  and  I  am  occupying  his 
cottage  at  Englewood.  I  am  prepared  at  any  time 
to  return  to  New  York  and  set  things  right,  and 
I  can ;  I  can  testify  to  the  message  sent  by  Chairo, 

245 


The  Demetrian 

to  my  efforts  to  induce  Balbus  to  give  up  the 
attempt  at  rescue,  to  Balbus's  refusal  to  listen  to 
me,  to  his  having  arrested  Xenos  and  bound  him, 
to  my  having  released  Xenos — and  Xenos  will,  I 
am  sure,  if  I  ask  him,  confirm  my  testimony. 
This  will  set  Chairo  right  before  the  committee; 
only  I  don't  want  to  see  Chairo.  He  has  been  im- 
ploring me  for  an  interview.  I  don't  want  to  com- 
plicate things;  you  have  suffered  enough,  you 
shall  not  suffer  any  more  through  me " 

Lydia  was  about  to  rise  and  leave  the  room; 
she  would  not  by  word  or  gesture  admit  the  in- 
ference to  be  drawn  from  Neaera's  words — ad- 
mit the  possibility  of  inconstancy  on  the  part  of 
Chairo;  but  at  the  moment  she  was  about  to  rise 
a  ring  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  presently  the 
aunt  appeared  excitedly,  and  announced  that 
Chairo  was  there.  Neaera  jumped  up  and  shut 
the  door. 

"  You  must  not  see  him  here,"  she  said  to 
Lydia.  "  Come  into  this  room,"  and  she  beckoned 
her  into  an  adjoining  parlor,  separated  from  the 
study  only  by  a  curtain.  Lydia,  who  was  under  a 
promise  not  to  meet  Chairo,  had  no  option  but  to 
follow  Neaera,  but  she  followed  with  a  cheek 
flushed  with  indignation.  She  sat  stiffly  in  a  chair 
while  Neaera  left  her  to   receive  Chairo.     She 

246 


"Treasons,   Stratagems,   and   Spoils" 

heard  the  door  of  the  study  open  and  Neaera's 
voice  in  the  adjoining  room  say: 

*'  Chairo,  my  poor  Chairo!  " 

Then  she  buried  her  face  in  her  hands  and  her 
fingers  in  her  ears  so  that  she  should  not  be  an 
unwilling  listener.  She  would  be  staunch  to  her 
faith  in  Chairo,  for  this  was  the  one  rock  under 
the  shelter  of  which  in  the  shifting  and  stormy 
skies  she  felt  there  was  any  longer  any  safety  for 
her. 

Lydia  heard  in  spite  of  herself  Neaera's  coo- 
ing treble  and  the  rich  vibrating  notes  of  Chairo's 
voice;  she  heard  them  laugh  once,  and  then  there 
came  what  seemed  to  be  a  silence  that  was  terrible 
to  her.  Later,  the  voices  resumed  again.  She 
passed  a  half  hour  of  anguish,  striving  to  listen 
and  striving  not  to  hear,  and  during  that  half 
hour  she  thought  she  heard  the  voices  in  the  ad- 
joining room  pass  through  every  gamut  of  emo- 
tion; they  were  sometimes  raised  as  though  each 
was  striving  to  outdo  the  other,  then  they  would 
sink  into  silence  again.  Would  it  never  come  to 
an  end — this  interview  between  the  man  she  loved 
and  a  woman  she  despised?  At  last  she  heard  a 
door  close;  she  removed  her  hands  from  her  head 
and  tried  to  look  composed. 

Neaera  came  to  her  with  her  cheeks  flushed. 
247 


The  Demetrian 

"  Did  you  hear  anything?  "  asked  she. 

Lydia  arose. 

"  I  have  been  here  too  long,"  said  Lydia. 
"  You  have  nothing  else  to  say,  I  think,"  and  she 
moved  out  of  the  parlor  into  the  study  and  was 
moving  out  of  the  study  into  the  hall  when  Neaera 
stopped  her,  and  said: 

"  You  are  not  mistaking  Chairo's  visit,  are 
you?"  There  was  the  prettiest  little  dimple  in 
Neaera's  cheek  as  she  said  this.  "  Nothing  but 
politics,"  she  added,  and  the  dimple  deepened. 

"  Good-by,"  said  Lydia,  without  holding  out 
her  hand. 

Neaera  burst  out  now  into  a  little  laugh,  for 
Lydia  had  passed  her  and  was  at  the  door. 

"  Nothing  but  politics,"  laughed  Neaera,  as 
Lydia  shut  the  door  behind  her. 


248 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

A  LIBEL 

AS  Lydia  hurried  back  to  the  cloister  she 
had  a  humiliated  sense  of  having  been  in 
contact  with  something  foul.  Indignant 
at  the  trap  which  had  been  laid  for  her,  sore  at  the 
struggle  neither  to  listen  nor  to  doubt,  one  thought 
only  occupied  her:  to  get  back  to  the  cloister  and 
wash  her  mind  and  body  clean  of  the  whole  con- 
cern. 

She  had  not  been  allowed  to  respond  to 
Neaera's  invitation  without  a  long  discussion  with 
Irene  and  the  Mother  Superior.  The  compact 
upon  which  she  had  come  to  New  York  was  that 
she  was  not  to  meet  Chairo  there;  to  insure  this, 
it  had  been  the  unexpressed  understanding  that 
she  would  not  leave  the  cloister  until  Chairo's 
case  was  judged — or  at  least  not  leave  it  without 
the  permission  of  the  Demetrian  authorities.  So 
when  Neaera's  message  was  received,  Lydia  at 
once  showed  it  to  Irene. 

249 


The  Demetrian 

Neaera's  role  in  the  whole  matter  was  such 
an  important  one,  and  so  much  depended  on  what 
it  could  be  proved  to  have  been,  that  the  Mother 
Superior  judged  it  worth  the  risk  to  allow  Lydia 
to  visit  Neaera.  When,  therefore,  Lydia  returned 
to  the  cloister,  Irene  at  once  questioned  her  as  to 
the  result  of  the  interview. 

But  Lydia  was  not  prepared  to  lay  bare  even 
to  Irene  all  she  had  suffered  at  Masters's  rooms. 
It  was  already  pitiful  enough  that  her  love  for 
Chairo  had  become  a  subject  for  public  discus- 
sion, and,  indeed,  a  matter  of  political  concern. 
This  last  agony  she  would  keep  to  herself;  she 
felt  unable  to  talk  about  it  to  others,  so  she  an- 
swered Irene  imploringly: 

"  Do  not  ask  me.  Nothing  has  come  of  it 
which  can  be  of  the  slightest  importance  to  the 
cult  or  to  any  one.  Neaera  is  a  worse  woman  than 
I  thought." 

Irene  hesitated.  She  did  not  wish  to  intrude 
on  Lydia,  and  yet  she  knew  the  Mother  Superior 
would  not  be  satisfied  with  this  answer.  But 
there  was  no  reason  for  forcing  an  answer  from 
Lydia  at  once,  so  she  accompanied  her  to  her 
room. 

"  I  want  a  bath,"  said  Lydia.  "  I  feel  con- 
taminated." 

250 


A  Libel 

"Physically  contaminated?"  asked  Irene, 
smiling. 

"  The  mere  presence  of  that  woman  is  a  phys- 
ical contamination,"  answered  Lydia. 

"  Well,  let  us  go  down  and  take  a  plunge  to- 
gether," answered  Irene,  laughing. 

"Will  you?"  asked  Lydia.  "And  then  we 
can  go  to  the  temple  afterwards.  That  will  be  the 
best  of  all." 

The  two  women  stepped  down  to  the  swim- 
ming bath  and  donned  their  swimming  dress. 

Lydia  stood  on  the  plunging  board,  and  as  she 
raised  her  beautiful  arms  above  her  head  and 
straightened  herself  for  the  plunge,  she  said: 

"Ah!  Irene,  if  life  were  all  as  simple  and  as 
wholesome  and  as  delightful  as  this!" 

Reinvigorated  by  the  fresh  salt  plunge,  they 
resumed  their  draperies  and  walked  slowly  to  the 
temple.  The  service  was  coming  to  an  end  and 
they  knelt  to  hear  the  closing  chorus  of  the  Choe- 
phoroi.  The  words  came  with  refreshing  dis- 
tinctness to  Lydia,  and  the  hopefulness  of  them 
filled  her  heart  with  strength.  They  told  of  the 
beauty  of  women,  of  their  devotion.  Beauty  was 
a  snare,  but  it  was  also  a  sanctuary.  For  the  god- 
dess gave  beauty  to  the  good  and  to  the  evil  alike 
— so  had  the  Fates  decreed.    And  the  evil  would 

251 


The  Demetrian 

use  it  to  the  undoing  of  man,  but  the  good  to  the 
building  of  him  up.  And  the  goddess  loved  good 
and  hated  evil. 

Then  came  the  prayer  of  the  women;  they 
prayed  to  Demeter  to  give  them  charm  to  delight 
and  courage  to  renounce,  that  love  and  modera- 
tion bring  in  the  end  happiness  and  peace. 

And  the  priest  lifted  his  hand  in  benediction: 

"  Go  forth,  for  the  goddess  hath  blessed  you, 
and  hath  bidden  you  take  heed  that,  pitiless  though 
be  Anagke,  even  her  empire  may  at  last  be  broken 
by  the  fruit  of  your  womb." 

The  congregation  knelt  at  these  words  and  re- 
mained kneeling  while  the  choir  marched  out 
singing  a  recessional,  solemn  and  strong.  Then 
came  the  novices,  the  Demetrians,  and,  last  of  all, 
the  high  priest  bearing  the  sacred  emblem. 

When  Lydia  and  Irene  left  the  temple  and 
followed  the  arcade  to  the  cloister,  all  doubts  and 
fears  seemed  to  have  fallen  from  Lydia,  as  scales 
from  eyes  blinded  by  cataract. 

*'  How  beautiful  the  cult  of  Demeter  is! "  ex- 
claimed Lydia,  ''  and  how  strengthening." 

Irene  passed  her  arm  round  Lydia's  waist. 
"  You  know  now,"  she  said,  "  how  easy  my  sacri- 
fice has  become!  Oh,  we  have  to  pass  through  the 
fire,  but  once  the  ordeal  is  over,  happiness  comes 

252 


A  Libel 

unbidden  and  unexpected.  Come  to  my  boy — my 
boys,  I  should  say.  I  left  them  at  work  and  I 
shall  probably  find  them  at  play;  but  they  are 
truthful  and  innocent.  Their  innocence  is  a  daily 
delight  to  me." 

And  the  two  women  returned  to  their  duties. 
Lydia  forgot  that  she  had  heard  Neaera  whis- 
pering to  Chairo.  She  had  taken  in  a  draught  of 
strength,  and  she  needed  it,  for  another  trial  was 
at  hand. 

Lydia  was  allowed  to  sleep  that  night  the  sleep 
of  the  innocent,  but  the  next  morning  while  she 
was  engaged  in  the  hospital  ward,  Irene  came  to 
her  with  an  expression  of  agitation  on  her  face 
that  was  unusual.  She  carried  in  her  hand  a 
newspaper,  which  Lydia  was  not  slow  in  recog- 
nizing, and  asked  Lydia  when  she  v/ould  be 
through  her  work,  as  she  had  an  important  word 
to  say  to  her. 

Lydia  promised  to  hurry  and  be  back  in  her 
room  within  ten  minutes.  Irene  said  she  would 
go  at  once  to  her  room  and  wait  there.  The  mo- 
ment Irene  left  the  room  the  probable  contents  of 
the  newspaper  flashed  upon  her,  and  she  saw  the 
folly  of  her  reticence.  She  was  putting  the  last 
bandage  about  the  leg  of  a  child  when  suddenly, 

253 


The  Demetrian 

at  the  thought  of  the  false  construction  that  might 
be  placed  upon  her  silence,  a  weakness  came  over 
her  that  made  it  almost  impossible  for  her  to  finish 
her  task. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Aunt  Lydia?  "  asked  the 
child;  ''you  look  pale." 

Lydia  collected  herself.  "  Nothing,"  she  said, 
''  I  shall  be  all  right  presently."  She  passed  her 
unoccupied  hand  over  her  eyes  and  was  able  to 
resume  and  complete  her  work. 

When  she  had  sewn  up  the  bandage  she  put 
back  the  small  wounded  limb  into  the  bed,  tucked 
in  the  sheets,  and,  preoccupied  as  she  was  with  her 
new  concern,  was  moving  away  without  giving 
the  child  the  customary  kiss. 

"Aunt  Lydia!"  cried  out  the  child,  holding 
out  its  little  hands. 

''  Darling,"  answered  Lydia,  and  as  the  soft 
arms  closed  around  her  neck  and  she  felt  innocent 
lips  upon  her  cheek,  tears  gushed  from  her  eyes, 
of  which — relief  though  they  gave  her — she  was 
nevertheless  ashamed. 

The  child  looked  wonderingly  at  her,  and  she 
said: 

"  It  is  nothing  at  all,  and  Aunt  Lydia  is  very 
grateful  for  a  sweet  little  kiss." 

The  child  patted  her  cheek  with  a  dimpled 
254 


A  Libel 

hand  as  she  bent  over  him,  and  Lydia  left,  won- 
dering how  often  she  would  have  to  be  reminded 
that  happiness  did  not  depend  only  upon  the  sat- 
isfaction of  our  own  desires.  She  had  left  the 
temple  full  of  this  thought,  and  yet  a  suspected 
attack,  directed  by  a  newspaper  against  her  own 
particular  designs,  had  in  a  moment  blackened 
her  entire  horizon.  When  she  reached  her  room 
and  found  Irene  there  she  was  once  more  calm 
and  strong. 

She  found  Irene  sitting  down,  with  the  news- 
paper open  on  her  knees.  It  was  published  by 
a  few  devotees  in  vindication  of  the  cult,  although 
lacking  its  support.  The  cult  had,  indeed,  often 
tried  to  suppress  its  publication  but  had  not  suc- 
ceeded. It  had  been  able  only  to  compel  the  pub- 
lishers to  change  its  name,  for  it  had  been  pub- 
lished at  first  under  the  title  "  The  Demetrian." 
The  cult  had  pointed  out  that  this  title  gave  the 
impression  that  it  was  an  authorized  organ, 
whereas  it  was  not  only  unauthorized  but  pub- 
lished in  a  spirit  opposite  to  that  taught  by  the 
cult.  So  the  name  had  been  changed  to  ''  Sacri- 
fice," this  word  having  been  selected  in  opposition 
to  the  word  "  Liberty  " — the  title  of  its  rival. 

In  the  issue  of  that  morning  was  the  following 
paragraph: 

255 


The  Demetrian 

"  We  are  incensed  to  learn  that  although 
Chairo  was  given  his  liberty  on  the  express  un- 
derstanding that  he  was  not  to  use  it  in  order  to 
consummate  his  outrage  on  Lydia,  and  although 
Lydia  was  allowed  to  come  to  New  York  only  on 
the  condition  that  she  was  to  remain  confined  to 
the  cloister  and  not  to  see  Chairo,  these  two,  who 
have  already  scandalized  the  cult  and  the  whole 
community  beyond  endurance,  managed  yesterday 
to  meet  clandestinely  at  the  rooms  of  Masters, 
between  ten  and  eleven  in  the  morning.  Masters 
is  not  in  New  York,  so  he  cannot  be  held  respon- 
sible for  this  assignation;  and  Masters  being  out 
of  town  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  on 
this  occasion  the  guilty  couple  were  quite  alone." 

Lydia  thought  when  she  entered  her  room  that 
she  was  braced  to  endure  anything,  but  when  she 
came  to  the  closing  words  of  the  paragraph  the 
blood  rushed  to  her  face.  She  managed,  however, 
to  avoid  further  expression  of  her  indignation. 

"  It  is  false,  of  course?"  said  Irene. 

"  No,"  answered  Lydia,  and  with  burning 
cheeks  she  turned  her  tired  eyes  on  Irene.  "  It  is 
not  false — and  it  is  not  true." 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Irene  anxiously. 

*'  Chairo  was  there." 

"  And  you  saw  him?  " 

Irene  was  bending  over  her  breathlessly. 

A  fearful  agitation  tormented  Lydia.  Must 
256 


A   Libel 

she  indeed  renew  the  anguish  of  that  hour — nay, 
treble  it,  by  laying  it  bare  to  all  the  world?  She 
could  have  told  it  to  Irene,  but  to  tell  it  to  her  as 
a  vindication  of  herself  would  involve  the  telling 
of  it  to  the  Mother  Superior  and  to  the  rest.  And 
who  would  believe  that  she  had  not  seen  or  spoken 
to  Chairo,  that  far  from  seeing  him,  she  had 
crouched  in  an  adjoining  room  with  her  fingers 
at  her  ears  in  agony  lest  she  should  hear  and  lest 
she  should  not  hear? 

She  remained  silent,  with  her  head  bowed  over 
the  oflfending  sheet. 

"You  must  tell  me,"  Irene  pleaded;  "  I  need 
not  tell  it  to  any  one — at  least  I  think  I  need  not," 
added  she,  hesitating,  "  but  I  know  you  have  done 
no  wrong;  you  must  clear  yourself,  Lydia;  for  the 
love  of  the  goddess,  tell  me." 

"  For  the  love  of  the  goddess,"  repeated  Lydia 
slowly;  she  paused  a  moment,  and  then,  mistress 
of  herself  again,  she  said: 

"  I  neither  saw  Chairo  nor  spoke  to  him.  You 
will  believe  this,  but  who  else  will?" 

"  Your  word  is  enough  for  me,"  answered 
Irene,  "  and  I  shall  make  it  enough  for  them  all." 

The  women  arose  and  embraced  each  other, 
then  Lydia  said : 

"  Too  much  has  been  already  said  about  the 
257. 


The   Demetrian 

most  secret  as  well  as  the  most  sacred  matters  of 
a  woman's  life.  It  belongs  to  us  women  to  pre- 
serve the  dignity  that  we  derive  from  Demeter, 
and  that  we  owe  her.  I  shall  say  no  more  on  this 
matter.    Am  I  not  right?  " 


258 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

NEAERA  AGAIN 

NEAERA'S  attempt  on  Chairo  had  proved 
a  humiliating  failure,  and  when  she  con- 
fronted Lydia  her  cheeks  were  flushed, 
not  with  success  as  might  have  been  imagined,  but 
with  the  effort  to  escape  without  disgrace  from  a 
situation  for  which  she  had  no  one  to  thank  or 
blame  but  herself.  Chairo  had  certainly  at  one 
time  been  attracted  by  Neaera  beyond  the  limits 
of  mere  companionship,  but  he  had  not  taken  long 
to  discover  that  the  glances  that  tended  to  bewitch 
him  were  no  less  bewitchingly  turned  on  others, 
and  he  soon  put  Neaera  where  she  deserved  in  his 
acquaintance. 

She  was  extremely  useful  to  him  in  his  polit- 
ical plans  and  on  the  staff  of  "  Liberty";  and  al- 
though he  was  dimly  conscious  that  Neaera  would 
to  the  end — at  every  moment  that  the  strain  of  the 
actual  work  was  relieved — endeavor  to  bring  into 
their  intimacy  the  element  of  coquetry  of  which 
she  was  a  past  master,  Chairo  treated  this  dis- 

259 


The  Demetrian 

position  with  something  of  the  amused  sense  of 
her  charm  that  would  be  elicited  by  a  pet  animal. 
And  this  willingness  to  be  amused  by  her  Neaera 
understood  to  mean  a  tribute  to  her  attractiveness 
that  might  on  a  suitable  occasion  lead  to  an  ex- 
change of  vows  at  the  altar  of  matrimony. 

But  she  little  understood  Chairo  when  she 
attempted  to  force  the  occasion  of  their  meeting 
at  Masters's  into  a  channel  so  opposite  to  his  pres- 
ent disposition.  When  he  entered  the  room  where 
Neaera  awaited  him  the  lines  in  his  face  and  the 
fatigue  in  his  eye  elicited  from  Neaera  an  ejacula- 
tion in  which,  strange  to  say,  there  was  some  real 
sincerity.  She  was  truly  sorry  for  him,  and  she 
was  woman  enough  to  guess  that  the  weary  face 
before  her  was  due  to  no  mere  political  reverses, 
for  the  face  was  not  only  that  of  a  tired  man,  it 
was  also  that  of  a  man  who  had  been  chastened. 
She  was  restive  under  the  thought  that  the  chast- 
ening influence  could  be  his  love  for  Lydia,  and 
the  problem  before  her  grew  complicated  when 
she  guessed  how  difficult  it  would  be  for  her  to 
elicit  from  Chairo  any  word  that  could  sting  the 
woman  whom  to  that  particular  end  she  had 
secreted  in  the  adjoining  room.  Then,  too,  al- 
though she  was  mistress  of  her  own  voice,  she  was 
not  mistress  of  Chairo's,  and  the  possibility  that 

260 


Neaera  Again 

Lydia  might  close  her  ears  was  one  that  did  not 
enter  within  the  scope  of  Neaera's  imagination. 

After  having  expressed  her  sympathy  for 
Chairo  and  found  that  it  elicited  little  or  no  re- 
sponse from  him,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  was 
eager  to  know  the  reason  of  her  presence  in  New 
York  and  of  her  message  to  him,  she  launched 
upon  a  highly  imaginative  account  of  her  rela- 
tions to  Masters,  and  with  her  command  of  humor 
very  soon  got  Chairo  laughing  over  the  success 
with  which,  according  to  her  story,  she  had  pulled 
the  wool  over  Masters's  e3^es.  Chairo  had  no 
reason  to  love  Masters,  and  he  had  long  ceased  to 
regard  Neaera  as  a  responsible  person;  the  im- 
morality of  her  proceeding  affected  him,  there- 
fore, no  more  than  if  he  had  observed  it  in  a 
monkey  or  a  cat. 

Neaera  told  her  story  in  words  so  rapid  and  a 
voice  so  low  that  Lydia  could  hardly  have  under- 
stood it  had  she  tried,  and  Neaera  felt  that  she  had 
scored  a  point  when  she  had  made  Chairo  laugh. 
Then,  anticipating  the  effect  of  silence  on  Lydia, 
she  had  handed  Chairo  some  selected  passages 
from  Masters's  letters  to  read,  and  as  Chairo 
burst  again  into  laughter  over  certain  passages  in 
them,  Neaera  began  to  feel  she  might  venture 
farther.    Laughter,  especially  over  an  unrighteous 

261 


The  Demetrian 

matter,  tends  to  make  all  righteousness  seem  super- 
fluous, but  when  Neaera  got  near  Chairo,  in  a 
pretense  of  reading  over  his  shoulder,  a  very  slight 
and  almost  unconscious  movement  of  Chairo  away 
from  her  made  her  understand  that  any  further 
effort  in  this  direction  would  be  a  mistake. 

So  Neaera  set  herself  to  discussing  very  seri- 
ously the  situation  with  Chairo,  assured  him  that 
she  was  prepared  to  sacrifice  herself,  and  with  a 
tear  in  her  eye  admitted  to  him,  almost  in  a  whis- 
per, that  she  had  tampered  with  his  carriage. 

"  I  knew  it,"  said  Chairo. 

"  But  did  you  guess  why?  "  asked  Neaera,  very 
low. 

Chairo  did  not  answer,  but  looked  inquiry. 

"  Then  you  shall  never  know,"  continued 
Neaera. 

This  was  the  psychological  moment  of  the  in- 
terview. She  had  intended,  had  Chairo  given  her 
the  least  encouragement,  to  throw  herself  into  his 
arms  and  confess  to  him  that  she  had  never  loved 
any  man  but  him,  that  so  great  was  her  love  for 
him  that  she  was  prepared  now  to  face  the  inves- 
tigating committee,  tell  the  whole  story,  and  tell- 
ing the  story  by  so  much  exonerate  him.  She  had 
expected  that  if  there  was  a  spark  of  affection  in 
Chairo's  heart  for  her,  his  chivalrousness  would 

262 


Neaera  Again 

be  roused  by  this  ofifer,  and  he  would  share  her 
fortunes  rather  than  permit  her  sacrifice  to  assure 
his. 

But  the  possibility  of  this  imagined  scene  had 
been  dissipated  by  that  little  unconscious  move- 
ment of  Chairo's  away  from  her.  Then,  too,  she 
knew  that  Lydia  was  in  the  next  room,  and  she 
almost  regretted  now  that  she  was  there,  for  if 
Lydia  had  not  been  there  she  might  have  risked 
the  venture.  But  that  Lydia  should  witness  a 
humiliating  rejection  was  a  risk  she  could  not 
take.  So  she  had  spoken  very  low  and  rapidly  in 
the  hope  that  although  Lydia  might  not  hear  any 
specific  word  that  would  hurt,  she  might  gather 
a  general  impression  that  would  sufficiently  tor- 
ment her.  She  little  knew  how  completely  she 
was,  to  this  extent  at  any  rate,  succeeding. 

*'  My  dear  Neaera,"  answered  Chairo,  "  you 
are  a  very  charming  and  complicated  person  and 
I  do  not  pretend  to  guess  why  you  chose  to  thwart 
my  plans.  But  you  have  done  me  a  great  wrong 
in  many  ways.  Should  you  decide  now  to  repair 
them — in  so  far  as  this  is  possible — you  will  be 
behaving  in  a  manner  which,  though  proper, 
would  hardly  be  consistent."  He  smiled  a  little 
as  he  said  this;  Neaera  wished  he  would  not  speak 
so  loud,   and  was  even  betrayed  into   a  gesture 

263 


The   Demetrian 

which  he  interpreted  as  a  gesture  of  protest,  but 
was  really  an  instinctive  effort  to  induce  him  to 
lower  his  voice. 

"  You  are  very  cruel  to  me,"  said  Neaera,  and 
she  lowered  her  eyelids  so  that  her  long,  black 
lashes  swept  her  cheek. 

"  And  you  are  a  charming  little  comedienne,''^ 
laughed  Chairo,  "  and  you  ought  to  have  devoted 
yourself  to  the  stage." 

"  The  world's  my  stage,"  she  said,  raising  her 
eyes  with  a  flash  of  indignation.  *'  And  there  is 
upon  it  every  kind  of  character.  But  while  I  have 
made  a  fool  of  many  I  have  always  respected  you, 
and  this  is  how  you  pay  me  for  it!  " 

Chairo  was  not  deceived  by  her  pretty  little 
air  of  indignation,  but  he  said  to  himself  that 
though  it  was  a  part  she  was  playing,  she  played 
it  well;  so  he  arose,  and,  taking  her  hand,  said: 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  be  unkind,  Neaera,  and  for 
anything  you  do  to  help  me  I  shall  be  profoundly 
grateful." 

"What  shall  I  do,  Chairo?"  she  asked,  look- 
ing up  appealingly  to  him. 

"  Ah!  that  is  in  your  hands,"  he  answered. 

"  You  can  count  upon  me,"  she  said,  holding 
his  hand  in  both  of  hers. 

Chairo  did  not  wish  to  prolong  the  interview, 
264 


Neaera  Again 

so  by  way  of  farewell  he  lifted  her  hands  to  his 
lips.  Then  she  fell  upon  her  knees,  kissed  his 
hands  not  once  but  many  times,  and  bathed  them 
in  her  tears.  He  lifted  her  gently  and  put  her  in 
her  chair. 

"  Good-bye,  little  woman,"  he  said  gently, 
"  and  be  sure  that  whatever  you  may  do,  I  shall 
feel  kindly  toward  you,"  and  disengaging  himself 
from  her,  he  left  the  room. 

Neaera  saw  him  leave  with  something  like 
real  affection  in  her  heart.  "  He  is  the  best  of 
them  all,"  she  said,  "  and  I  might  have  loved  him 
really."  And  whether  it  was  that  there  was  in 
her  something  that  might  have  responded  to  him 
had  he  love  to  give  her  or  whether  it  was  mere 
reaction  from  her  own  trumped-up  distress,  there 
was  a  moment  as  Neaera  sat  there  when  the  little 
woman  did  sincerely  think  herself  in  love. 

But  the  recollection  that  Lydia  was  in  the 
next  room  came  to  her,  and  she  wondered  how 
much  Lydia  had  heard.  She  looked  in  the  mirror 
and  saw  there  the  reflection  of  the  very  agitation 
she  wished  Lydia  to  suspect,  and  so  before  the 
trace  of  it  could  disappear,  she  hurried  to  her 
victim.  Perhaps,  thought  she,  Lydia  had  heard 
something  without  hearing  too  much. 


265 


CHAPTER    XXV 

THE  LIBEL  INVESTIGATED 

CHAIRO  was  sitting  at  the  head  of  one  of 
the  tables  in  the  hall  of  our  building,  and 
Ariston  and  I  were  on  either  side  of  him, 
when  the  morning  papers  were  brought  in.  Since 
the  disappearance  of  "  Liberty,"  only  two  morning 
papers  were  daily  published  in  New  York:  the 
state  paper,  entitled  "  The  New  York  News,"  and 
"  Sacrifice."  Chairo  rapidly  perused  "  The 
News  "  and  handed  it  to  me.  I  was  absorbed 
half  in  consuming  the  oatmeal,  with  which  our 
breakfast  usually  closed,  and  half  in  reading 
"  The  News,"  when  I  was  suddenly  aware  of  an 
agitation  in  my  neighbor  which  caused  me  to  look 
up  at  him. 

I  was  surprised  at  the  shape  this  agitation 
took;  Chairo  was  a  choleric  man;  as  I  first  re- 
member him,  very  slight  causes  of  annoyance  sent 
the  blood  to  his  face  and  found  expression  at  once 
in  a  few  violent  sentences.    This  morning,  the  first 

266 


The  Libel  Investigated 

impatient  gesture  over,  he  sat  very  still,  pale,  and 
with  beads  of  cold  perspiration  on  his  forehead. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Ariston. 

Chairo  pushed  the  paper  to  him. 

Ariston,  after  reading  the  passage  indicated, 
said: 

"  Of  course  I  understand  that  publicity  of  any 
kind  on  such  a  subject  must  be  odious  to  you ;  but 
after  all,  it  is  a  lie,  and  can  be  easily  proved  to  be 
such." 

"  It  is  not  altogether  a  lie,"  answered  Chairo, 
"  I  was  at  Masters's  rooms  at  the  hour  indicated, 
but  Lydia  was  not  there— at  least,"  he  added,  cor- 
recting himself,  ''  I  did  not  see  her  there."  For 
already  he  began  to  suspect  that  Neaera  had  been 
at  her  tricks  again. 

"  I  shall  go  to  the  editor  at  once,"  continued 
Chairo,  "  and  insist  on  the  publication  of  an 
apology." 

The  paper  had  by  this  time  been  handed  to 
me  and  I  had  read  the  libel. 

"  Don't  go  to  the  editor  now,"  urged  Ariston. 
"  You  are  justly  indignant,  and  you  have  a  man 
to  deal  with,  in  the  editor,  who  will  only  add  to 
your  exasperation.  Write  a  simple  denial  of  the 
fact  that  you  have  seen  or  spoken  to  Lydia  at  any 
time  or  place  since  your  arrest." 

267 


The  Demetrian 

^'  I  won't  drag  her  name  into  the  paper  again," 
exclaimed  Chairo.  "  If  I  write  anything  it  must 
be  so  contrived  as  not  to  introduce  her  name.  I 
have  a  right  to  insist  that  my  private  affairs  be  no 
more  discussed  in  the  paper." 

''  You  have  the  undoubted  right  under  our 
law  to  demand  this,  but  don't  be  impatient  if  I 
answer  you  that  this  matter  is  not  a  purely  private 
one;  it  is  a  matter  of  grave  public  interest." 

Chairo  flashed  a  look  at  Ariston  that  we  both 
understood;  it  meant  a  sudden  revival  of  his  aver- 
sion for  the  cult,  which  made  of  this  private  mat- 
ter one  with  which  the  public  had  a  right  to 
meddle;  but  the  look  died  away,  and  Chairo's 
face  resumed  the  settled  expression  of  discourage- 
ment which  had  marked  it  since  the  sessions  of  the 
investigating  committee  began. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Ariston,  "  if  I  cannot  draw 
up  a  letter  which  the  paper  will  have  to  publish," 
and  he  scribbled  on  the  newspaper  band  that 
Chairo  had  torn  off  and  thrown  aside.  Very  soon 
he  produced  the  following: 

The  Editor  of  "  Sacrifice." 

"Sir:  I  avail  myself  of  my  right  under  the 
law  to  insist  on  your  publishing  this  letter  in  the 
same  place  and  in  the  same  type  as  the  paragraph 
to  which  it  refers. 

268 


The  Libel  Investigated 

"The  statement  that  I  have  in  spirit  or  in 
letter  violated  the  compact  under  which  I  was 
released  is  not  true.  I  was  at  Masters's  rooms  at 
the  hour  indicated,  but  I  met  no  one  there. 

"  Should  you  add  anything  to  the  libel  already 
published,  by  way  of  comment,  head  line,  or 
otherwise  of  a  nature  to  cast  a  doubt  upon  the 
contradiction  herein  contained,  I  shall  at  once. 
have  you  prosecuted  with  the  utmost  rigor  of  the 
law. 

"  I  beg  also  to  inform  you  that  I  shall  regard 
any  further  reference  to  this  incident  as  an  im- 
proper meddling  with  my  private  affairs,  and 
shall  proceed  accordingly." 


Chairo  glanced  at  the  proposed  letter,  and 
said: 

"  It  is  quite  satisfactory  except  as  to  one  state- 
ment in  it.  I  did  not  meet  Lydia  at  Masters',  but 
I  did  meet  another  woman  there." 

Ariston  and  I  looked  at  one  another  in  sur- 
prise. 

"  An  indiscretion?  "  asked  Ariston. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Chairo,  "  but  a  secret." 

This  was  very  awkward. 

"  I  need  not  hesitate  to  tell  you  as  my  counsel, 
in  confidence,"  continued  Chairo.  "  But  I  think 
it  must  go  no  further." 

We  looked  our  inquiry. 
269 


The  Demetrian 

*^  It  was  Neaera,"  said  Chairo  very  low. 

Ariston  and  I  opened  our  eyes. 

"That  woman  again!"  exclaimed  Ariston. 

But  Chairo  rose,  suggesting  that  it  would  be 
more  prudent  to  discuss  the  matter  in  our  rooms, 
and  we  followed  him  there. 

Chairo  then  told  us  of  his  interview  with 
Neaera,  leaving  out  of  it  all  that  might  have  ex- 
plained or  reflected  on  her  motives.  Both  Ariston 
and  I  felt  certain  he  was  leaving  out  something. 

*'  Well,  we  must  modify  our  letter,"  said  Aris- 
ton, and  after  some  discussion  it  was  decided  to 
leave  out  the  statement  that  Chairo  had  been  at 
Masters's  rooms  altogether,  and  to  confine  the 
letter  therefore  to  a  bare  denial. 

Ariston  advised  Chairo  to  go  at  once  to  Arkles 
and  explain  the  facts,  so  as  to  put  the  cult  in  a 
position  to  write  a  similar  denial.  Ariston  and  I 
proceeded  to  the  office  of  "  Sacrifice." 

On  our  way  there  we  discussed  Chairo's  inter- 
view with  Neaera. 

"  You  may  depend  upon  it,"  said  Ariston,  ''  she 
has  lost  Masters,  and  is  making  a  desperate  effort 
to  get  back  Chairo." 

"  And  she  had  Lydia  secreted  in  an  adjoining 
room,"  guessed  I. 

"  That's  it,"  said  Ariston;  "  she  is  a  devil!  " 
270 


The  Libel   Investigated 

"  But  can  Chairo  insist  on  the  publication  of 
his  letter?  "  asked  I. 

^'  Certainly,"  said  Ariston.  "  In  this  we  have 
but  copied  an  admirable  provision  of  the  French 
law  in  your  time.  We  have  added  to  it  a  right 
for  every  man  to  prohibit  any  paper  from  pub- 
lishing any  matter  regarding  his  private  move- 
ments or  his  private  afifairs.  The  effect  of  this  rule 
is  that  as  every  paper  wants  to  be  free  to  publish 
what  is  known  as  society  news,  and  it  can  only  do 
so  with  the  tacit  consent  of  those  who  make  up 
society,  it  has  to  take  care  to  publish  nothing  that 
even  borders  on  libel.  Libel  and  slander,  I  think 
I  have  told  you,  we  regard  as  one  of  the  greatest 
of  social  crimes." 

We  found  the  editor  of  "  Sacrifice  "  in  a  con- 
dition of  sanctimonious  self-satisfaction.  His  ar- 
ticle had  produced  a  sensation,  and  he  was  tri- 
umphant in  the  thought  that  he  was  accomplishing 
for  the  cult  what  the  cult  itself  was  too  feeble  to 
accomplish  for  itself.  He  assumed  an  air  of  por- 
tentous gravity  when  he  learned  the  object  of  our 
visit. 

'^  I  hold  Chairo  in  the  hollow  of  my  hand," 
said  he,  "  and  I  do  not  mean  to  let  him  off." 

"  You  will  have  to  publish  his  letter,"  insisted 
Ariston. 

271 


The   Demetrian 

''  I  shall  publish  his  letter  and  I  shall  brand  it 
as  a  lie,"  retorted  the  editor. 

"  You  will  do  so  at  your  peril,"  answered 
Ariston. 

"  I  fear  no  consequences,"  said  the  little  man, 
straightening  himself  in  his  editorial  chair. 
"  When  Chairo  denies  that  he  was  at  Masters's 
rooms  between  ten  and  eleven  yesterday  morning, 
and  Lydia  denies  that  she  was  there  at  the  same 
hour,  it  will  be  time  to  resume  investigation.  So 
bare  a  denial  as  this  " — and  he  threw  Chairo's 
letter  contemptuously  down  on  his  desk — "  is  not 
worth  the  paper  it  is  written  on." 

"  What  is  your  proof  of  the  correctness  of  your 
statement?  "  asked  Ariston. 

"  I  need  not  produce  it,"  said  the  editor  pom- 
pously, "  but  I  have  nothing  to  conceal,"  and  after 
looking  among  the  papers  on  his  desk,  he  found 
and  handed  us  a  typewritten  statement  of  the  fact 
constituting  the  alleged  libel.  I  was  pretty  sure 
that  I  detected  here  the  hand  of  Neaera. 

"  Before  publishing  this  anonymous  state- 
ment," continued  the  editor,  "  I  was  careful  to 
confirm  it.  The  janitor  of  the  building,  upon  be- 
ing questioned  by  me  in  person  as  to  who  had 
passed  his  lodge  during  the  hour  in  question,  men- 
tioned, of  his  own  accord,  both  Chairo  and  Lydia. 

272 


The  Libel  Investigated 

They  arrived  each  alone  and  at  an  interval  of  a 
few  minutes.  It  was  an  assignation.  There  is  no 
doubt  of  it." 

"  You  had  best  not  tell  Chairo  so,"  said  Aris- 
ton. 

"  Don't  threaten  me,  sir,"  exclaimed  the  editor. 
"  Your  own  role  in  this  matter  will  not  bear  inves- 
tigation." 

Ariston  rose  suddenly  and  advanced  on  the 
editor,  but  I  interfered. 

"  You  have  come  here,"  said  I,  "  on  an  errand 
as  counsel  for  Chairo,  because  you  feared  he 
would  not  control  his  temper.  Are  you  going  to 
lose  yours?  " 

I  had. clutched  Ariston  by  the  arm,  and  at  first 
he  tried  to  extricate  himself  from  me,  but  he  saw 
the  force  of  my  argument,  and,  looking  a  little 
mortified,  he  said: 

"  Xenos  is  right.  I  have  no  right  to  prejudice 
Chairo's  case  by  taking  up  a  quarrel  of  my  own. 
Xenos,  however,  is  a  witness  to  the  words  you  have 
used  and  the  animus  you  have  shown.  Now  pub- 
lish a  word  of  comment  if  you  dare! " 

Then,  turning  abruptly  to  the  door,  we  both 
left  the  room. 

As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  the  building  Ariston, 
who  was  trembling  with  suppressed  passion,  said: 

273 


The  Demetrian 

"This  man  has  to  be  scotched!  He  means 
mischief  and  is  in  a  position  to  do  mischief 
unless  we  can  make  Chairo's  innocence  in  this 
matter  clear  as  day.  Let  us  summon  the  janitor 
at  once  before  an  examining  magistrate  and  get 
all  the  facts  from  him.  You  understand  me — 
allV 

I  understood  him,  and  appreciated  the  value 
of  a  procedure  that  enabled  any  citizen  to  demand 
at  any  time  the  examination  of  any  other  citizen 
before  a  magistrate — subject,  of  course,  to  a  heavy 
penalty  in  case  the  proceeding  turned  out  to  be 
unreasonable  and  vexatious.  Had  either  of  us 
gone  to  the  janitor  ourselves  we  would  have  been 
accused  of  having  influenced  him,  so  we  addressed 
ourselves  directly  to  a  magistrate  who  sent  a  mes- 
senger for  the  janitor  and  secured  his  attendance 
within  half  an  hour. 

The  janitor  answered  rapidly  under  interroga- 
tion as  to  the  attendance  of  both  Chairo  and  Lydia 
at  the  hour  named. 

*'  Now  tell  us,"  asked  Ariston,  "  who  was  in 
Masters's  apartment  at  the  time." 

"  Masters's  aunt." 

"  Was  no  one  else  there?  " 

"  Yes,  a  messenger  of  Masters  went  backward 
and  forward  several  times." 

274 


The  Libel  Investigated 

Ariston  demanded  the  name  of  the  messenger, 
and  the  magistrate  at  once  sent  for  him. 

Ariston  continued  the  examination. 

"  Was  no  one  else  in  Masters's  apartment  be- 
sides his  aunt?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  of  any  one  else  being  there." 

He  emphasized  the  word  "  know." 

"  When  did  Masters  leave?  " 

*'  About  two  in  the  afternoon." 

"  Did  no  one  else  go  to  his  rooms  from  two  in 
the  afternoon  to  the  arrival  of  Lydia  next  morn- 

ing?  " 

"  Not  to  my  knowledge." 

Again  he  emphasized  the  word  "  knowledge." 

"  You  do  not  know  of  your  knowledge  just 
where  every  one  who  passes  your  lodge  goes?  " 

"  No." 

"  Who  passed  your  lodge  and  went  to  Masters's 
staircase  on  the  day  before  Chairo  and  Lydia  went 
there?" 

The  janitor  mentioned  here  a  large  number  of 
persons,  and  then  added : 

*'  There  may  have  been  others ;  I  don't  see 
every  one  who  passes  the  lodge." 

"  Did  any  one  that  night  gain  admission  after 
dark?" 

"  A  great  many." 

275 


The  Demetrian 

"  Did  you  get  the  names  of  all?  " 

"  Yes — of  all — at  least,  there  was  one  I  did  not 
get." 

At  last  the  janitor  hesitated,  and  it  seemed  clear 
that  Ariston  was  on  the  right  scent. 

"  Who  was  it?  " 

"  I  don't  know.    I  was  sleepy,  I  did  not  insist." 

"  Did  no  one  pass  out  next  day  whom  you  had 
not  admitted  on  the  previous  night?  " 

"  I    did   not   notice   any  one   particularly;    I 
could  not  distinguish;  so  many  come  and  go." 

The  janitor  seemed  to  think  a  little  and  hesi- 
tate. 

*'  Go  on,"  said  Ariston.    "  Of  whom  are  you 
thinking?  " 

^'  A  veiled  woman  passed  out  that  day  and  put 
a  piece  of  money  in  my  hand." 

*' Over-astute  Neaera!"  thought  I. 

''Did  you  not  recognize  the  woman?"  asked 
Ariston. 

"  No,  she  was  veiled." 

''  Would  you  be  surprised  if  I  could  guess  at 
what  hour  she  passed  out?  " 

The  janitor  looked  at  Ariston  stupidly. 

"  She  passed  out  within  an  hour  after  Lydia." 

''  Yes,"     nodded     the     janitor,     "  just     about 
that." 

276 


The  Libel  Investigated 

"  Have  you  seen  or  talked  with  Masters's  aunt 
since  that  day?  " 

"  No." 

Ariston  then  asked  the  magistrate  to  send  for 
the  messenger  and  Masters's  aunt. 

The  janitor  wa§  asked  to  wait  in  case  he  should 
be  needed,  and  we  adjourned  for  lunch.  While 
lunching  Ariston  and  I  agreed  that  we  were  going 
to  get  at  the  facts,  and  that  it  would  be  better  not 
to  let  the  editor  know  them  till  after  to-morrow 
morning.  "  I  mean  to  give  him  rope,"  said  Aris- 
ton.   "  He'll  hang  himself,  I  think." 

The  messenger  arrived  shortly,  and  from  him 
the  identity  of  the  veiled  lady  was  very  soon 
elicited.  He  had  evidently  received  his  piece  of 
money  also,  and  endeavored  to  avoid  a  direct  ad- 
mission, but  Ariston  got  the  fact  out  of  him  with 
but  little  difficulty,  and  his  hesitation  to  admit  it 
only  brought  out  the  more  clearly  the  means 
Neaera  had  adopted  to  cover  her  tracks. 

Masters's  aunt  arrived  a  little  later  in  a  state 
of  utmost  trepidation.  She  came  up  to  Ariston  at 
once  and  implored  him  to  tell  her  what  the  matter 
was;  had  she  done  anything  wrong;  she  would  tell 
anything  that  was  wanted,  but  there  were  some 
things  she  could  not  tell;  really,  was  Ariston  going 
to  ask  her  to  tell  things  she  really  could  not  tell? 

277 


The  Demetrian 

But  Ariston  calmed  her,  and  told  her  the 
magistrate  was  there  to  protect  her. 

She  bustled  up  to  the  magistrate,  who  stopped 
her  by  handing  her  the  Bible,  upon  which  she  was 
told  to  take  her  oath. 

The  judicial  severity  of  the  magistrate  sub- 
dued her  at  once;  she  took  the  oath  and  sat  down. 
Ariston  whispered  to  the  magistrate,  begging  him 
to  conduct  the  examination,  and  pointing  out  that 
the  object  of  it  was  to  elicit  what  occurred  at 
Masters's  rooms  and  whether  or  not  Chairo  and 
Lydia  had  actually  met  there. 

The  magistrate  asked  her  a  few  leading  ques- 
tions, and  as  soon  as  the  witness  had  recovered 
from  the  subduing  efifect  of  the  magistrate's  pres- 
ence the  floodgates  were  opened,  and  she  poured 
forth  the  whole  story,  leaving  a  strong  presump- 
tion that  Lydia  had  not  seen  Chairo,  and  that 
Chairo  had  ignored  the  presence  of  Lydia. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  exami- 
nation was  closed.  We  found  Chairo  resting  after 
his  bath.  He  told  us  that  he  had  seen  Arkles, 
shown  him  a  copy  of  the  letter  Ariston  had  drawn, 
and  agreed  with  Arkles  that  a  similar  letter  be 
written  by  Lydia. 

Ariston  told  Chairo  that  we  had  not  been  idle, 
278 


The  Libel  Investigated 

but  that  we  judged  it  wiser  for  the  present  not  to 
disclose  to  him  what  we  had  done.  It  would  be 
advantageous  later  to  be  able  to  say  that  we  had 
acted  upon  our  own  responsibility.  We  took 
Chairo  after  dinner  to  hear  some  music,  and  tried 
to  make  him  forget  the  dreadful  incidents  of  the 
day,  suspecting,  as  we  did,  that  a  still  more  bitter 
dose  was  awaiting  him  next  morning. 

And  the  editor  did  not  disappoint  us.  We 
breakfasted  earlier  than  usual  in  order  to  receive 
the  papers  in  our  rooms.  "  Sacrifice  "  contained 
Chairo's  letter  just  as  Ariston  had  submitted  it. 
Next  came  a  shorter  letter  from  Lydia  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect: 

"  Sir  :  It  is  not  true  that  I  have  met  Chairo  since 
his  release,  clandestinely  or  otherwise,  whether  at 
Masters's  rooms  between  ten  and  eleven  day  be- 
fore yesterday,  or  at  any  other  time  or  place. 

"  Lydia  Second." 

But  an  editorial  carried  out  the  editor's  threat 
of  the  day  before.  It  stated  that  in  compliance 
with  the  law,  letters  signed  by  Chairo  and  Lydia 
respectively  had  been  that  day  published  denying 
the  truth  of  the  charge  made  against  them  on  the 
previous  day,  but  that  a  sense  of  the  duty  which 
the  paper  owed  to  the  public  made  it  impossible 
to  comply  with  Chairo's  order  to  refrain  from 

279 


The  Demetrian 

further  comment  on  the  matter.  It  was  not  of  a 
private  nature.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  a  matter 
of  the  gravest  public  concern.  "  No  one,"  it  went 
on  to  say,  "  is  less  interested  in  Chairo's  private 
affairs  than  ourselves,  and  we  fully  appreciate  the 
reasons  why  he  should  prefer  that  his  private 
affairs  be  not  at  this  moment,  or  any  other,  ex- 
posed to  public  scrutiny;  but  he  is  charged  with 
having  violated  the  sanctity  of  the  cloister,  with 
having  outraged  a  Demetrian,  and  with  having, 
in  violation  of  his  oath,  sought  to  consummate  the 
crime,  the  perpetration  of  which  had  been  pre- 
vented by  the  vigilance  of  the  Demetrian  cult.  Is 
this  a  matter  of  purely  private  concern?  " 

The  editorial  then  proceeded  to  explain  the 
carefulness  with  which  it  had  verified  the  truth 
of  the  statement  published,  compared  the  circum- 
stantial evidence  produced  by  themselves  with  the 
bareness  of  the  denial  published  by  the  parties 
incriminated,  and  closed  with  the  following 
words : 

"  We  have  always  stood,  and  we  stand  to-day, 
for  peace,  purity,  and  cleanliness  of  life.  Chairo 
stands  for  violence,  lust,  and  turpitude.  We  shall 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  intimidated  by  him  or 
diverted  from  our  plain  duty  to  brand  his  contra- 
diction as  a  lie." 

280 


The  Libel  Investigated 

It  was  a  paper  containing  this  outrageous  at- 
tack on  Chairo  that  Ariston  brought  into  our 
room,  flourishing  it  over  his  head  with  an  air  of 
triumph,  and  crying: 

"We  have  him — we  have  him.  Good-bye/ Sac- 
rifice'"; and  making  a  semblance  of  blowing  it  into 
the  air,  he  handed  it  to  Chairo,  but  before  Chairo 
could  read  it  he  held  it  away  from  him  and  said: 

"  This  is  going  to  exasperate  you — but  believe 
me  it  is  the  best  thing  that  could  happen.  We 
have  already  secured  sworn  evidence  taken  before 
a  magistrate  that  vindicates  both  you  and  Lydia 
— don't  ask  us  what  it  is — I  shall  be  responsible 
for  all  I  do.  The  intemperance  of  the  language 
you  are  going  to  read  is  going  to  do  you  more 
good  than  all  the  eloquence  you  can  command  in 
yourself  or  in  others." 

When  Chairo  read  the  article  he  insisted  on 
Ariston's  telling  him  what  evidence  we  had,  and 
Ariston  explained  the  proceedings  of  the  previous 
day  at  length;  he  added  that  he  knew  Chairo 
would  object  to  bring  home  the  responsibility  to 
Neaera,  but  that  what  Chairo  might  have  reasons 
for  not  doing  he,  Ariston,  had  no  reason  for  not 
doing,  and  that  he  proposed  to  make  it  clear  that 
he,  Ariston,  was  responsible  for  the  whole  pro- 


ceeding and  not  Chairo. 


281 


The  Demetrian 

"  Well,"  said  Chairo,  ''  you  have  gone  beyond 
the  point  where  I  can  either  stop  or  help  you." 

"  Exactly,"  argued  Ariston,  "  and  this  is  ex- 
actly where  I  wanted  to  put  you.  This  last  attack 
upon  both  you  and  Lydia — for,  of  course,  she  is 
as  much  included  as  yourself — leaves  you  no  alter- 
native but  to  prosecute  the  editor.  I  propose  to 
present  to-day's  article  to  the  magistrate  who  took 
the  testimony  yesterday.  He  will  grant  me  an 
order  of  arrest  against  the  editor  for  libel,  and 
both  you  and  Lydia  will  be  vindicated  as  you 
deserve." 

As  Ariston  spoke,  a  note  was  handed  to  me 
from  Anna  of  Ann  begging  me  urgently  to  go  and 
see  her  that  afternoon  at  tea  time.  I  showed  it  to 
Ariston,  and  we  wondered  what  new  development 
things  were  taking  that  could  include  Anna  of 
Ann. 

"  Harmes!  "  exclaimed  Ariston. 

I  was  puzzled. 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  asked  I. 

"  Neaera  is  playing  her  last  card." 

Then  it  flashed  upon  me. 

That  afternoon  I  went  to  see  Anna  of  Ann  and 
found  her  in  profound  dejection.  Ariston  had 
guessed  right.    A  few  days  before  Harmes  had  re- 

282 


The  Libel  Investigated 

ceived  a  letter  from  Neaera  and  absented  himself 
the  whole  afternoon.  He  had  returned  much  ab- 
sorbed, and  the  next  afternoon  he  had  absented 
himself  again.  Anna  had  asked  him  if  he  had 
not  heard  from  Neaera,  and  he  had  answered  in- 
dignantly that  all  were  conspiring  to  make  a  scape- 
goat of  her.  Anna  had  protested,  but  every  word 
she  said  had  only  contributed  to  increase  his  in- 
dignation. He  was  evidently  caught  in  the  siren's 
meshes  and  hopelessly  under  her  influence.  What, 
asked  Anna,  should  be  done? 

I  pointed  out  to  Anna  that  Ariston  was  much 
better  able  to  help  her  in  such  a  matter,  and  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  send  Ariston  to  her  the  following 
day,  but  she  demurred.  I  guessed  at  the  reason 
of  her  objection  and  suggested  her  father  calling 
on  Ariston.  But  her  father  knew  nothing  of  the 
matter  and  Anna  thought  it  unwise  to  let  him 
know. 

"  Then  let  your  mother  call  on  Ariston  at  his 
ofiice,"  suggested  I. 

"  That  would  be  better,"  answered  Anna. 

And  I  arranged  to  let  her  know  next  day  when 
Ariston  would  be  at  his  office. 

Ariston  was  much  interested  to  learn  that  he 
had  guessed  right,  and  very  willingly  gave  an 
appointment  for  the  next  day. 

283 


The  Demetrian 

Meanwhile,  the  district  attorney  had  obtained 
an  order  of  arrest  against  the  editor,  and  next 
day's  issue  was  edited  by  a  new  man.  It  contained 
a  statement  of  the  arrest  of  the  editor,  professed 
to  suspend  judgment  until  after  the  trial,  and  sub- 
mitted under  the  circumstances  the  wisdom  of 
silence  on  the  subject. 

But  the  affair  had  made  a  profound  impres- 
sion upon  the  public  and  the  legislature,  and  al- 
though Chairo's  guilt  as  to  conspiracy  was  clear, 
it  was  felt  to  be  equally  clear  that  he  had  sincerely 
done  what  he  could  to  prevent  the  attack  upon  the 
House  of  Detention.  Moreover,  he  was  now 
being  unfairly  treated  and  this  created  a  revulsion 
of  feeling  in  his  favor.  Ariston  was  much  en- 
couraged, for  he  did  not  conceal  from  me  his  con- 
viction that,  as  matters  stood  before  this  incident, 
the  feeling  of  a  large  majority  of  the  legislature 
was  that  an  example  ought  to  be  made  of  Chairo. 
So  long  as  this  feeling  prevailed,  no  amnesty  bill 
could  have  been  passed  that  included  him,  and 
there  was  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  could  expect 
anything  less  than  the  full  penalty  of  the  law  at 
the  hands  of  the  courts. 


284 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE  ELECTION 

I  OFTEN  heard  Chairo  and  his  friends  dis- 
cuss their  plans  for  the  coming  electoral 
campaign,  but  have  not  set  these  things 
down  because  there  was  in  them  nothing  that  was 
necessary  to  my  story  or  very  different  from  the 
political  campaigns  of  our  day.  There  was  less 
corruption,  for  there  were  no  needy  persons  in  the 
state;  but  corruption  was  by  no  means  unknown, 
especially  since  the  development  of  private  in- 
dustry had  created  a  private  and  transferable 
money  system,  and  the  relatively  large  wealth  of 
such  men  as  Campbell  and  Masters  caused  them 
to  be  feared.  Campbell,  however,  had  no  political 
aspirations;  his  hoarding  instinct  occupied  his 
time  and  devoured  his  ambition.  Masters,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  a  large  fund  at  his  disposal  which 
it  was  feared  he  might  use  in  his  unreasoning  de- 
sire to  vindicate  Neaera.  But  when  Masters  re- 
turned from  Boston  and  read  the  testimony  taken 
by  the  magistrate  he  called  on  Chairo  to  express 

285 


The  Demetrian 

regret  at  the  attitude  he  had  taken  and  to  agree 
with  him  as  to  the  coming  campaign. 

Masters  was  still  in  favor  of  the  amnesty  bill, 
but  he  saw  that  a  general  bill  that  would  include 
Neaera  could  not,  and  ought  not,  to  be  passed. 
He  doubted  the  possibility  of  pushing  through 
the  legislature  one  that  would  altogether  protect 
Chairo,  and  frankly  told  Chairo  so.  He  was  sur- 
prised to  hear  Chairo  admit  his  own  concurrence 
with  this  view. 

"  I  cannot  play  a  conspicuous  part,"  said 
Chairo,  "  in  a  campaign  in  which  I  am  so  deeply 
involved;  I  propose  to  stand  for  the  legislature 
in  my  own  district,  but  I  shall  address  my  con- 
stituents only  once,  and  then  I  shall  make  it  clear 
to  them  that  I  shall  not  regard  my  election  as  a 
vindication  of  the  course  I  have  adopted  in  setting 
myself  against  the  state,  but  as  evidence  that  upon 
my  frank  avowal  that  I  was  wrong  I  still  have 
their  sympathy  and  confidence." 

Masters  suggested  that  they  should  attend  on 
the  governor,  who  was  standing  for  reelection,  and 
agree  with  him  as  to  the  course  to  be  taken,  with  a 
view  to  diminishing  to  the  utmost  possible  the 
chances  of  a  serious  collision  between  the  govern- 
ment and  the  opposition  on  the  amnesty  question. 

I  was  very  much  surprised  one  day  to  find 
286 


The  Election 

both  Masters  and  the  governor  dining  at  our  table 
in  our  hall,  and  to  learn  that  although  the  gov- 
ernor had  offices  in  the  capitol  he  lived  with  his 
family  in  the  same  apartment  in  which  he  had 
always  lived,  and,  except  when  he  was  actually 
engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  office,  there  was  noth- 
ing to  distinguish  his  manner  of  living  from  that 
of  the  humblest  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

He  was  a  man  of  an  extremely  simple  exterior, 
though  his  head  was  distinguished  and  his  lan- 
guage chosen.  We  conversed  about  the  political 
outlook,  and  over  our  coffee,  which  Ariston  made 
himself  in  our  rooms,  the  governor  summed  up 
the  position  as  follows: 

''  The  country  districts  will  send  us  a  large 
majority  hostile  to  Chairo,  because  they  are  con- 
servative and  abhor  violence.  Chairo  will  have 
from  the  city  and  most  of  the  large  towns  a  small 
but  staunch  and  intelligent  following.  Masters 
will  influence  a  large  number  of  votes,  as  will  also 
the  Demetrian  cult.  I  don't  myself  think  the  state 
can  afford  to  allow  any  man  to  organize  an  armed 
rebellion — not  even  Chairo — without  putting  upon 
him  some  mark  of  its  authority,  and  I  think  it 
would  be  unwise  in  Chairo's  interests  to  ask  that 
he  should  escape  without  censure  and  even  punish- 
ment.   I  propose  in  my  electoral  address  to  advise 

287 


The  Demetrian 

pardon  for  all  who  have  been  led  by  others  into 
rebellion,  severity  for  those  who  led  them  into  it, 
and  for  those  leaders  who  can  plead  extenuating 
circumstances,  moderation." 

We  all  felt  that  the  governor's  attitude  was  not 
only  wise  on  general  political  grounds,  but  also 
from  the  narrower  point  of  view  of  Chairo's  per- 
sonal interest. 

The  nomination  of  candidates  at  the  primaries 
evinced  a  political  animosity  against  Chairo  of 
which  we  were  altogether  unaware.  To  our 
amazement  the  notion  that  Neaera  was  the  vic- 
tim of  a  concerted  effort  to  exonerate  Chairo  at 
her  expense  had  so  widely  prevailed  that  neither 
discussion  nor  argument  was  any  longer  of  any 
avail.  All  who  defended  Chairo  were  hounded 
down  as  the  persecutors  of  a  defenseless  woman, 
and  were  it  not  for  the  votes  of  the  women,  who 
were  less  obtuse  on  the  question  than  the  men, 
neither  Chairo  nor  any  of  his  following  would 
have  received  a  nomination.  As  it  was,  Chairo 
was  nominated  only  by  a  dangerously  narrow 
majority,  and  most  of  his  party  were  dropped  alto- 
gether. But  the  very  women  who  were  not  de- 
ceived into  vindicating  Neaera  went  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  wisdom  in  their  defense  of  the  Deme- 
trian cult.    Although  Arkles  and  Irene  did  their 

288 


The  Election 

utmost  to  keep  the  enthusiasm  of  their  supporters 
within  reasonable  bounds,  the  belief  that  the  cult 
was  attacked  caused  the  nomination  of  a  class  of 
candidates  who,  if  elected,  were  likely  to  do 
Chairo  scant  justice  by  their  votes. 

For  some  weeks  I  lived  in  a  turmoil  of  polit- 
ical campaigning.  It  was  a  relief  to  be  wakened 
on  Christmas  by  a  peal  of  Cathedral  bells,  and 
these  over,  to  hear  in  the  distant  corridors  an 
approaching  hymn  swell  its  note  of  praise  as  it 
passed  our  door  and  die  away  as  it  disappeared 
in  the  distance.  We  were  all  glad  to  feel  that  the 
electioneering  was  over,  for  Christmas  Day  is  de- 
voted entirely  to  the  morning  ritual  and  afternoon 
family  gatherings;  the  26th  is  devoted  to  final 
athletic  competitions,  the  crowning  of  the  victors, 
and  public  balls;  and  the  27th  to  the  silent  vote. 

I  am  ashamed  to  say  that  although  I  had  often 
delighted  in  the  exterior  of  the  Cathedral  from 
a  distance,  I  had  never  entered  it  till  Christmas 
morning,  for  our  quarters  were  some  distance 
from  it,  and  such  religious  exercises  as  I  had 
attended  with  Ariston  were  held  either  in  a 
neighboring  chapel  or  at  the  temple  of  Demeter. 
The  scene  as  I  approached  the  Cathedral  re- 
minded me  of  what  my  imagination  had  some- 
times   constructed    out    of    mediaeval    chronicles 

289 


The  Demetrian 

around  the  spires  of  Chartres.  It  was  a  cold  day 
and  all  the  approaches  to  the  Cathedral  were 
crowded  with  men,  women,  and  children,  covered 
with  outer  garments  that  far  more  resembled  those 
we  see  in  the  thirteenth  century  tapestries  than  the 
Greek  dress  that  had  first  surprised  me  at  Tyring- 
ham  and  in  the  interiors  of  New  York.  I  learned 
that  even  in  summer  it  was  usual  to  don  a  special 
dress  when  attending  a  church  service,  not  only 
out  of  respect  for  the  church,  but  out  of  a  sense  of 
the  artistic  inappropriateness  of  a  Greek  dress  in 
a  gothic  Cathedral. 

The  gigantic  doors  of  the  main  entrance  were 
thrown  wide  open,  and  as  I  mounted  the  long 
flight  of  steps  that  led  to  it,  I  was  delighted  and 
bewitched  by  a  facade,  wide  as  Bourges,  richly 
sculptured  as  Rheims,  and  flanked  by  spires  more 
beautiful  than  those  of  Soissons.  From  the  deep, 
dim  Cathedral  itself  came  the  pealing  notes  of  the 
organ  which,  as  we  entered,  made  the  air  throb; 
I  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  secret  of  old  glass 
had  been  rediscovered,  but  so  great  a  blaze  of 
light  came  from  the  five  great  western  portals  that 
I  did  not  fully  appreciate  the  mystic  colors  of  the 
vitraux  till  the  doors  were  closed.  Thereupon, 
from  an  entrance  in  the  south  transept  there 
marched    in    a    procession    which,    though    more 

290 


The  Election 

familiar  than  that  I  had  already  witnessed  in  the 
temple  of  Demeter,  far  exceeded  in  splendor  and 
impressiveness  anything  I  had  seen  before.  Less 
graceful,  perhaps,  than  in  the  Demetrian  cult  but 
more  solemn  and  devout,  marched  in  the  acolytes, 
swinging  censers;  they  were  followed  by  the  choir, 
singing  a  Gregorian  chant,  than  which  assuredly 
nothing  more  subtly  conveying  the  Christian  idea 
has  ever  been  composed.  In  order  came  after 
them  the  great  officials  of  the  city  and  state,  in- 
cluding the  mayor  and  the  governor,  a  full  rep- 
resentation from  the  priests  and  priestesses  of 
Asclepius  and  from  those  of  Demeter;  the  pro- 
cession was  closed  by  the  lesser  ecclesiastics  bear- 
ing the  cross,  the  canons,  and,  last  of  all,  the 
bishop.  The  ritual  did  not  differ  much  from  that 
of  the  Roman  and  Anglican  churches,  except  that 
the  music  was  rendered  with  as  much  care  and 
effect  as  at  Munich  or  Bayreuth. 

The  sermon  did  not  last  more  than  ten  min- 
utes, and  closed  with  an  earnest  reminder  that 
in  casting  our  votes  we  were  exercising  the  highest 
act  of  sovereignty  of  which  man  is  capable,  and 
an  entreaty  so  to  cast  them  that  the  church — and 
all  that  the  church  stood  for — might  feel  itself 
strengthened  in  the  legislature  as  well  as  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

291 


The  Demetrian 

Whether  on  emerging  from  the  Cathedral  this 
solemn  exhortation  left  as  little  trace  in  the  shape 
of  actual  conduct  as  in  our  day  I,  of  course,  can- 
not tell,  but  I  think  the  language  of  the  headstrong 
during  the  succeeding  days  was  less  violent  and 
the  animus  evinced  less  bitter  for  it. 

The  Christmas  dinner  which  followed  the 
service  was  held  in  the  common  hall,  for  it  was 
deemed  an  occasion  when  all  should  join  and  con- 
tribute to  make  the  day  a  happy  one.  Families 
either  arranged  to  dine  at  separate  tables  or  united 
to  dine  at  one,  and  on  this  great  festival  wine 
flowed  in  abundance  at  the  expense  of  the  state. 

Our  own  party  consisted  for  the  most  part  of 
the  Tyringham  colony,  to  which,  however,  were 
added  many  new  city  friends.  Ariston  sat  be- 
tween Anna  of  Ann  and  Irene.  We  missed,  how- 
ever, Chairo  and  Lydia;  the  one  dined  alone  from 
discretion,  the  other  remained  at  the  cloister. 
We  were  not  a  merry  party,  for  the  prospect  for 
both  of  these  two  was  dark,  and  when  we  drank 
the  toast  of  "  absent  friends "  there  was  a  tear  in 
many  an  eye. 


292 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

THE  JOINT  SESSION 

ELECTION  day  passed  quietly;  it  resulted 
in  an  overwhelming  majority  in  favor  of 
the  government,  and  the  character  of  the 
majority  was  clearly  animated  by  the  intention  to 
visit  heavily  upon  Chairo  the  consequences  of  his 
actions. 

We  had  all  understood  that  Lydia's  return  to 
New  York  was  due  to  some  determination  on  her 
part,  but  what  that  determination  was  not  even 
Ariston  knew.    The  first  session  of  the  legislature 
on  the  ist  of  January,  '94,  was  attended  by  the 
deepest   misgiving   on   the   part   of   all    Chairo's 
friends;  nothing  could  be  determined  by  the  pro- 
ceedings of  that  day— which  were  purely  formal— 
but    on    the    next    an    incident    occurred    which 
showed  how  matters  stood.    The  previous  Speaker 
of  the  Senate  who  would,  if  reelected,  preside  at 
the  joint  session  of  both  houses,  was  a  man  of 
moderate  views,  who  had   for  years  impartially 

293 


The  Demetrian 

administered  the  duties  of  his  office.  It  was  a 
matter  of  course  that  he  should  be  renominated  as 
the  candidate  of  the  government,  and  a  motion 
to  this  effect  was  duly  made  by  Peleas.  But  it 
was  seconded  by  Masters,  and  this  produced  the 
effect  of  an  understanding  between  the  govern- 
ment and  Chairo's  men  which  exasperated  the 
irreconcilables;  one  of  them,  therefore,  in  a 
moment  of  impulse  nominated  a  distinguished 
Asclepian  priest,  who  had  been  elected  on  the 
platform  of  war  on  Chairo;  his  nomination  was 
hotly  seconded  by  a  chorus  of  voices,  and  although 
he  was  opposed  by  the  government  party  and  by 
the  supporters  of  both  Chairo  and  Masters,  he  was 
beaten  only  by  a  dozen  votes. 

The  situation  looked  critical  for  Chairo  when 
Masters  stood  up  to  bring  the  amnesty  bill  before 
the  joint  session ;  he  was  received  in  a  manner  sig- 
nally different  from  that  which  usually  greeted 
him;  the  applause  of  his  own  particular  adherents 
sounded  faint  and  hollow  and  only  served  to  ac- 
centuate the  silence  of  the  rest.  He  did  not  speak 
at  length,  reserving  himself  till  after  the  report 
of  the  investigating  committee  had  been  read. 
He  was  followed  by  several  speakers,  who  re- 
peated the  unreasoning  vituperation  which  had 
marked  the  electoral  campaign,  all  of  them  op- 

294 


The  Joint  Session 

posed  to  the  passage  of  an  amnesty  bill  of  any 
kind. 

The  real  incident  of  the  day  was  the  reading  of 
the  report  of  the  investigating  committee,  which, 
for  the  first  time,  officially  brought  out  the  facts 
as  they  were.  The  chairman  of  the  committee 
who  read  the  report  concluded  by  a  brief  expres- 
sion of  personal  opinion  to  the  effect  that  after 
the  reading  of  the  report  it  was  impossible  for 
any  one  duly  conscious  of  his  duties  to  the  state 
to  approve  of  the  amnesty  bill  as  read.  Doubt- 
less many — perhaps,  indeed,  most  of  those  con- 
cerned— had  been  unduly  influenced  by  others, 
and  for  these  he  was  himself  prepared  to  cast  a 
vote  of  pardon.  But  all  the  guilty  parties  were 
not  before  them.  He  was  interrupted  here  by  a 
loud  murmur  of  approval  and  by  a  counter  dem- 
onstration of  those  who  still  believed  in  Neaera's 
innocence.  He  did  not  propose  to  try  any  one 
in  their  absence  (applause),  but  assuredly  it  was 
not  proper  to  pardon  any  one  in  their  absence 
either  (loud  applause) .  There  was  one  case  which 
demanded  particular  attention;  he  referred  to  the 
man  who  had  organized  the  whole  conspiracy. 
(There  was  a  deep  silence  here,  and  many  invol- 
untarily turned  to  where  Chairo  sat  erect  and 
immovable  with  his  arms  crossed.)     There  was 

295 


The  Demetrian 

evidence  to  show  that  after  he  had  effected  the 
particular  personal  end  he  had  in  view,  he  had 
sent  a  message  intended  to  put  an  end  to  further 
violence.  He  asked  the  legislature  to  consider 
how  far  this  tardy,  unsuccessful,  and,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  him,  half-hearted  effort  at  reparation 
deserved  to  be  taken  into  account  in  mitigation. 

This  conclusion  was  greeted  with  the  wildest 
applause;  members  stood  up  and,  with  vociferat- 
ing gestures  directed  at  the  corner  where  Chairo 
sat,  demanded  justice  and  the  full  measure  of  the 
law. 

It  was  expected  that  Masters  would  take  the 
floor,  but  in  the  heated  condition  of  the  house  he 
judged  it  wiser  that  Arkles  should  be  heard  before 
him.  So  Arkles  slowly  rose,  and  straightening 
himself  to  his  full  height,  addressed  the  speaker. 
The  disorder  which  had  followed  the  speech  of  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  immediately  subsided, 
and  the  spokesman  of  the  Demetrian  cult  was 
listened  to  in  respectful  silence.  "  It  is  my  honor," 
he  said,  "  to  address  you  on  behalf  of  a  religious 
cult  which  has  been  outraged,  upon  the  question 
whether  this  outrage  shall  go  unpunished  or 
whether  the  cult  shall  be  vindicated  by  the  visi- 
tation on  the  guilty  of  the  full  measure  of  the 
law." 

296 


The  Joint   Session 

He  used  advisedly  the  very  catchword  "  full 
measure  of  the  law,"  which  had  never  failed  to 
secure  applause  at  the  meetings  held  by  the  indig- 
nant supporters  of  the  cult,  and  his  purpose  was 
fulfilled,  for  he  at  once  got  them  on  his  side,  as 
the  approval  that  greeted  his  opening  fully 
showed.  He  then  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
cult,  its  principles,  the  benefit  it  had  bestowed; 
he  dwelt  upon  the  earnestness  of  its  devotees,  and 
contrasted  the  social  conditions  that  prevailed 
where  the  cult  was  strong  with  those  that  pre- 
vailed where  it  was  non-existent.  For  two  hours 
he  kept  the  unflagging  attention  of  the  audience 
with  the  most  carefully  reasoned  exposition  of 
what  the  cult  stood  for  that  that  generation  had 
heard.  Clearly  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from 
his  argument  was,  that  an  institution  so  essential 
to  public  welfare  was  entitled  to  the  further  pro- 
tection of  the  state,  and  that  an  outrage  upon  it 
must  be  so  punished  as  to  render  any  repetition 
of  the  offense  to  the  highest  degree  improbable. 
Sure  of  this  conclusion,  the  irreconcilables  joined 
with  the  government  ranks  in  loud  approval  of 
Arkles's  discourse.  But  here  Arkles  turned  an 
unexpected  corner,  for  after  having  demanded 
justice,  in  tones  that  filled  the  house  with  a  rever- 
beration of  applause,  he  suddenly  asked  the  ques- 

297 


The  Demetrian 

tlon :  "  And  in  this  case,  what  is  the  justice  we 
have  a  right  to  ask?  " 

He  turned  at  this  point  to  the  desk  by  him, 
filled  a  glass  with  water,  drank  it,  and  continued: 

"  The  Demetrian  cult  is  not  founded  on  legal 
enactment.  It  is  not  propped  by  any  state  author- 
ity. It  derives  all  its  strength  from  the  appeal  it 
makes  to  reason  and  morality.  So  long  as  it  finds 
support  in  the  public  conscience  it  is  strong;  the 
moment  it  appeals  from  conscience  to  the  state 
it  confesses  a  weakness  of  which  the  cult  is  not 
to-day  aware.  Nay,  there  never  was  a  day  when 
the  cult  was  more  strong  than  now,  never  when 
it  was  better  able  to  vindicate  its  rights  upon 
its  own  merits,  that  is  to  say,  not  by  appeal  to 
the  state  for  protection,  but  by  appeal  to  every 
man  and  woman  in  the  commonwealth  for  sup- 
port. 

"  And  here  it  is  essential  to  make  a  careful  dis- 
tinction between  acts  committed  in  violation  of 
the  law  of  the  land  and  those  committed  in  viola- 
tion of  our  sanctuary.  As  to  the  first,  he,  as  spokes- 
man of  the  cult,  had  nothing  to  say;  the  state  alone 
could  deal  with  them.  As  to  the  last,  they  had 
received  the  prayerful  deliberation  of  the  Deme- 
trian council,  and  he  was  instructed  now  to  read 
the  following  resolution: 

298 


The  Joint  Session 

"  '  Inasmuch  as  the  exercise  of  our  duties  can 
be  justified  only  by  the  extent  to  which  this  ex- 
ercise is  approved,  not  merely  by  the  worshippers 
of  Demeter  but  by  the  community  at  large; 

"  '  Inasmuch  as  such  exercise  deals  with  the 
most  sacred  and  intimate  passions  of  the  human 
heart; 

"  '  We  now  solemnly  declare  that  we  count 
only  upon  devotion  to  the  cult  for  protection,  and 
deem  it  wiser  to  sufifer  sacrilege  to  go  unpunished 
than  by  retaliation  to  keep  alive  in  the  hearts  of 
the  guilty  or  of  those  who  support  them,  a  spark 
of  hostility  or  resentment.'  " 

A  profound  silence  followed  the  reading  of 
this  resolution,  and  Arkles  concluded  as  follows: 

"  It  has  been  the  policy  of  our  commonwealth 
to  abandon  the  principle  of  punishment  for  crime. 
Those  who  are  unfit  for  social,  life  we  remove 
from  social  life  and  try  to  make  them  fit;  until 
they  are  fit  for  it,  we  keep  them  isolated.  Do  not 
let  us  depart  from  a  salutary  rule  in  the  interests 
of  the  cult,  which  the  cult  itself  has  largely  con- 
^  tributed  to  introduce  and  which  it  is  deeply  in- 
terested in  keeping  alive.  There  are  contingen- 
cies, Mr.  Speaker,  when  the  highest  justice  is 
mercy." 

When  Arkles  sat  down  he  left  the  session  in 
a  state  of  suspended  judgment.  There  was  ap- 
plause, but  it  was  the  applause  of  men  convinced 

299. 


The  Demetrian 

against  their  will,  and  the  irreconcilables  re- 
mained absolutely  silent.  The  day  was  drawing 
to  a  close,  and  the  session  adjourned  almost  in  a 
state  of  confusion. 

As  we  walked  home  to  our  quarters  we  none 
of  us  were  inclined  to  speak.  "  That  speech  of 
Arkles  will  bear  fruit,"  said  Ariston.  But  Chairo 
was  gloomily  silent,  and  I  did  not  have  the  heart 
to  speak  words  of  encouragement  I  did  not  feel. 
We  were  joined  at  the  bath  by  quite  a  number  of 
our  house,  who  seemed  anxious  to  cheer  us  up  by 
the  gossip  of  the  day.  All  were  much  exercised 
by  the  result  of  the  four-mile  race  which  had  just 
been  run.  It  was  the  first  time  a  woman  had  ever 
entered  for  this  race,  and  she  had  succeeded  in 
making  a  dead  heat  of  it.  Chairo,  who  had  ex- 
celled in  these  sports,  was  gradually  aroused  from 
his  discouragement,  and,  without  much  reason  for 
it,  we  returned  to  the  session  next  day  in  a  bet- 
ter humor  than  circumstances  warranted,  for  the 
whole  day  was  taken  up  in  violent  harangues 
against  the  incriminated  parties,  some  attacking 
Chairo  not  only  as  a  conspirator  but  as  a  coward 
for  treachery  to  Neaera,  others  attacking  Neaera 
without  vindicating  Chairo. 

That  evening  Chairo  left  us  to  dine  with  a 
few  of  his  followers,  who,  feeling  the   situation 

300 


The  Joint  Session 

desperate,  advised  a  conference  with  Peleas,  Mas- 
ters, and  Arkles,  with  a  view  to  suggesting  an 
amendment  to  the  amnesty  bill  that  would  secure 
a  majority  without  going  to  the  extremes  de- 
manded by  the  irreconcilables. 


301 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

LYDIA  TO  THE  RESCUE 

POLITICAL  offenses,  such  as  the  one  with 
which  Chairo  was  charged,  were  punished 
not  by  confinement  in  farm  colonies  but 
by  imprisonment  in  a  fortress,  and  had  this  disad- 
vantage that,  whereas  the  term  in  the  former  case 
could  be  diminished  by  good  conduct,  in  the  latter 
case  it  was  fixed  for  a  number  of  years  and  was 
generally  of  inordinate  length.  This  was  the 
remnant  of  a  code  prepared  at  a  time  when  social 
crimes  were  not  much  feared,  whereas  political 
crimes  were  regarded  as  of  utmost  danger  to  the 
commonwealth.  The  maximum  term  of  impris- 
onment was  fifty  years,  and  this  for  Chairo  would 
be  practically  equivalent  to  imprisonment  for 
life.  The  irreconcilables  clamored  for  nothing 
less  than  this.  It  was  no  small  credit  to  Chairo's 
character  in  the  community  that  with  so  heavy  a 
sentence  impending  over  him,  it  occurred  to  no 
one — not  even  his  worst  enemies — to  ask  that 
special  precautions  be  made  to  prevent  his  escape. 

302 


Lydia  to  the  Rescue 

That  he  would  keep  his  parole  was  never  for  a 
moment  doubted. 

The  difficulty  attending  any  conclusion  arose 
from  the  heterogeneous  and  unorganized  char- 
acter of  the  irreconcilables ;  they  were  split  up 
into  a  number  of  factions,  agreed  only  upon  one 
thing — the  "  full  measure  of  the  law  "  for  Chairo; 
in  every  other  respect  they  differed,  some  de- 
manding what  they  called  justice,  on  grounds 
which  they  could  not  explain,  but  the  reasonable- 
ness of  which  they  made  a  matter  of  conscience 
and  morality;  others  declared  themselves  to  be 
vindicating  "  principles  "  which,  upon  examina- 
tion, turned  out  to  be  pure  assumptions  built  upon 
prejudice  and  temper;  others  professed  to  be  act- 
ing as  champions  of  the  cult,  too  helpless  to  be 
able  to  defend  itself,  and  although  willing  and 
anxious  to  discuss  and  explain  their  attitude,  could 
never  be  brought  to  any  other  conclusion  than  the 
"  full  measure  of  the  law  " — a  phrase  which  had 
obtained  as  complete  a  mastery  over  them  as  the 
"  sleep  "  of  a  hypnotizing  doctor  over  a  hypnotic 
subject. 

The  third  day  of  the  session  opened  in  as  great 
uncertainty  as  before.  Peleas  had  not  spoken, 
and  was  unwilling  to  speak,  until  some  amend- 
ment could  be  hit  upon  which  had  a  reasonable 

303 


The  Demetrian 

chance  of  uniting  a  majority.  The  debate  was, 
therefore,  left  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
irreconcilables,  who  vied  with  one  another  in  the 
application  to  Chairo  of  epithets  that  were  pic- 
turesque and  vituperative.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  session,  however,  an  incident  occurred  that 
was  unexpected  and  startling:  Arkles  arose  and 
asked  that  the  courtesy  of  the  floor  be  extended 
to  Lydia  Second.  Chairo  half  rose  in  protest,  but 
Masters,  who  sat  beside  him,  whispered  a  word 
in  his  ear  and  he  resumed  his  seat,  burying  his 
chin  in  his  breast.  A  loud  murmur  of  excitement 
filled  the  chamber;  the  motion  was  put,  and  it  was 
carried  without  a  dissenting  voice;  the  house  sat 
wrapt  in  silence  awaiting  the  entrance  of  the 
speaker.  Soon  Irene  was  seen  coming  down  a 
side  aisle,  and  by  her  side,  shrouded  by  a  veil,  a 
figure,  which  all  immediately  recognized  as 
Lydia's.  When  they  reached  a  point  half  way 
down  the  aisle  they  paused;  Irene  said  a  word  to 
Lydia,  and  Lydia  removed  her  veil. 

I  had  not  seen  her  since  we  parted  at  Tyring- 
ham;  as  I  looked  at  her  preparing  herself  to 
speak  I  experienced  a  conflict  of  emotion  that 
brought  beads  of  perspiration  to  my  forehead;  my 
love  for  her  now  kindled  into  admiration,  the 
hopelessness   of   it,   the   fate   of   Chairo,    an   un- 

304 


Lydia  to  the  Rescue 

doubted  admiration  for  him  and  yet  a  jealousy 
of  him  that  tortured  me,  willingness,  nay,  almost 
a  burning  desire  to  effect  Lydia's  happiness  at  any 
cost — all  these  things  struggled  within  me  for 
mastery,  as  with  compressed  lips  I  sat  waiting  to 
hear  her  speak.  She  was  obviously  suffering  from 
an  emotion  that  made  her  eyes  water  and  her 
throat  dry;  she  lifted  her  hand  to  her  bosom  once 
or  twice  in  futile  agitation,  but  mastering  her- 
self, she  stiffened,  and,  at  last,  as  it  were  by  a  su- 
preme effort,  lifting  her  head  high,  began: 

"  I  do  not  presume,  Mr.  Speaker  and  gentle- 
men of  the  legislature,  to  present  myself  before 
you  trusting  in  my  strength.  I  depend  rather  on 
my  weakness,  for  I  am  a  woman,  and  because  I 
am  a  woman  who  has  faltered  " — she  corrected 
herself — "  who  has  suffered,  you  will  hear  me." 

She  spoke  very  low  but  very  distinctly,  and 
there  was  in  the  chamber  a  silence  so  complete 
that  she  could  be  heard  at  the  utmost  corner  of  it. 

"  For  him  who  has  joined  with  me  in  this 
misadventure  I  do  not  presume  to  speak  at  all. 
He  is  a  man,  and  among  men,  able  to  hold  his 
own.  But  you  cannot  strike  him  without  striking 
me,  and  it  is  for  myself  I  plead." 

Chairo's  chin  buried  itself  deeper  In  his  breast, 
but  he  controlled  the  impulse  to  protest.    Indeed, 

305 


The   Demetrian 

there  was  a  note  in  Lydia's  voice  that  brought  a 
lump  into  his  throat.  He  could  not  have  protested 
had  he  dared. 

Irene  had  sent  for  a  glass  of  water;  Lydia 
partook  of  it,  and  then,  raising  her  voice,  pro- 
ceeded: 

"  Ever  since  I  was  restored  to  my  home  I  have 
kept  silence,  because  I  felt — and  I  was  so  advised 
— that  a  moment  would  come  when  I  should  be 
better  understood  than  at  a  time  when  the  public 
mind  was  inflamed  by  revolution  and  bloodshed. 
As  to  these  things,  I  have  cruelly  felt  the  extent 
to  which  I  was  the  occasion  of  them,  but  I  ask 
you  to  consider  whether  indeed  I  was  the  cause. 
And  I  ask  you,  too,  not  to  confuse  the  question 
raised  by  the  cult  of  Demeter  with  those  other 
questions  for  which  the  rebels  stood.  In  these 
last  I  have  had  no  share  and  to  them  I  shall  not 
again  refer.  They  have  no  part  in  the  question 
you  have  to  decide.  To  give  them  a  part  would 
be  to  do  me  a  great  wrong. 

"  And  as  regards  the  cult  of  Demeter,  there 
is  no  devouter  daughter  of  the  cult  than  I;  and 
that  I  should  stand  to-day,  arrayed  in  the  eyes  of 
some  of  you  against  the  cult,  chokes  my  utterance 
and  fills  my  eyes  with  tears.  Nor  should  I  have 
had  strength  to  plead  my  cause  with  you  to-day 

306 


Lydia  to  the  Rescue 

had  I  not  come  to  you  leaning  on  one  of  Demeter's 
worthiest  votaries." 

Here  Lydia  put  her  hand  on  Irene's  shoulder, 
and  Irene  looked  into  her  face  and  smiled. 

"  For  in  my  heart  there  is  a  reverence  for 
Demeter  so  profound  that  when  the  mission  was 
tendered  to  me,  I  felt  that  a  cubit  had  been 
added  to  my  stature;  I  felt  a  strength  grow  in  me 
to  make  what  sacrifice  was  needful,  and  as  day 
passed  day  the  sacrifice  grew  less  and  my  strength 
grew  more. 

"  But  oh,  fellow-worshippers  of  Demeter," 
and  she  looked  here  at  the  part  of  the  hall  where 
the  irreconcilables  had  grouped  themselves,  "  do 
not  frown  on  me  when  I  say  that  there  was  also 
in  my  heart  another  reverence,  another  strength, 
of  which  I  was  not  sufficiently  aware ;  and  in  your 
faith  in  the  cult  you  serve,  do  not  blind  yourself 
to  that  other  cult  to  which,  whether  we  will  or 
no,  we  are  all — yes,  all — subject.  We  may  harden 
our  hearts  to  it,  we  may  bring  it  as  a  sacrifice 
upon  your  altar,  but  if  it  has  once  grown  deep 
enough,  it  overpowers  all  the  rest — I  am  not 
ashamed  to  say  it  here — before  you  who  ask  mercy 
for  Chairo  and  you  who  ask  for  his  destruction, 
I  am  not  ashamed  to  publish  it  to  all  the  world — 
stronger   than    reverence    for    Demeter,    stronger 

307 


The  Demetrian 

than  the  unutterable  honor  of  the  Demetrian  mis- 
sion— is  the  love  of  a  woman  for  a  man." 

She  paused;  there  was  no  applause,  but  the 
breathless  silence  that  reigned  bore  a  higher  trib- 
ute to  the  impression  made  than  any  spoken  word 
or  gesture. 

"  And  when  love  came  it  brought  with  it  a 
sense  of  duty  to  another,  so  that  I  no  longer  stood 
merely  between  Demeter  and  my  love,  I  stood 
also  between  Demeter  and  Chairo  " — a  loud  mur- 
mur of  disapproval  greeted  these  words.  Lydia, 
however,  went  bravely  on.  "  But  I  looked  with 
suspicion  upon  an  argument  that  so  favored  my 
own  inclination,  and  believing  duty  to  lie  in  re- 
sistance to  inclination  rather  than  in  consent  to  it, 
I  strangled  my  love,  and  with  a  pride  in  my  own 
sacrifice  that  was  false  and  bad  I  accepted  the 
mission." 

Again  a  murmur  of  disapproval  filled  the  hall. 
This  time  Lydia  acknowledged  it  by  turning  to 
the  corner  whence  it  came. 

"  Yes,  I  repeat  it — with  a  pride  In  my  own 
sacrifice  that  was  false  and  bad — for  it  gave  me 
strength  to  do  a  thing  that  was  wrong!  What  is 
heroic  in  one  is  vanity  in  another.  And  I  thank 
you  for  that  expression  of  disapproval  that  re- 
minds me  to  distinguish  those  to  whom  it  is  an 

308 


Lydia  to  the  Rescue 

ugly  hypocrisy.  There  are  women — and  may 
their  names  be  blessed — who,  before  their  hearts 
have  been  kindled  by  love,  bear  within  them  a 
capacity  for  sacrifice  and  a  longing  for  maternity 
which  makes  of  them  fitting  subjects  for  the 
Demetrian  mission;  but  when  a  woman  has  once 
harbored  the  young  God  Eros,  when  she  has  by 
implication,  if  not  by  express  promise,  sanctioned 
the  harboring  of  him  in  another,  then  the  strength 
that  can  disown  her  love  and  break  that  promise 
is  drawn  from  a  vanity  that  is  foolish,  or  a  conceit 
that  is  contemptible;  and  as  I  look  back  to  the 
day  when,  after  weeks  of  weakening  struggle,  I 
arose  from  the  bed  of  torment  strangely  endowed 
with  a  strength  that  enabled  me  to  make  unmoved 
my  final  vows,  I  see  that  my  strength  came  not 
from  Demeter  but  from  self-righteousness  and 
self-conceit.  And  I  make  this  bitter  confession 
before  you  all  that  the  fault  may  rest  where  it 
should,  not  upon  you,  priests  and  priestesses  of 
Demeter  " — and  here  she  looked  up  at  the  gal- 
lery where  they  sat — *'  not  upon  him  " — and  she 
turned  almost  imperceptibly  to  Chairo  —  "but 
upon  me." 

Her  voice  sank  as  she  said  these  words,  and 
there  broke  from  many  of  us  a  murmur  of  sym- 
pathy. 

309 


The  Demetrian 

"  But  these  things,"  she  continued  in  a  louder 
voice,  "  are  of  little  importance  by  the  side  of 
what  I  have  yet  to  say.  Pardon  me,  if  I  have  had 
to  speak  of  myself;  it  is  not  often — and,  indeed,  it 
is  distressful  that  so  private  a  thing  as  this  should 
become  matter  of  public  concern.  But  you  have 
to  decide  an  issue  in  which  the  conduct  of  one 
least  worthy  of  your  attention  has  become  set  up, 
as  it  were,  before  you  as  the  conduct  of  all  my 
sex.  It  is  not  I  that  am  judged,  'but  all  who  are 
unworthy  of  the  mission — or  shall  I  not  rather 
say — unfitted  for  it.  For  though  I  am  willing — 
nay,  desire — to  accept  my  full  share  of  blame,  yet 
am  I  not  willing  that  my  sex  shall  in  my  person 
be  judged  less  worthy  than  it  is.  Believe  me,  that 
noble  as  is  the  mission  of  Demeter,  noble  also  is 
the  love  of  a  woman  for  a  man,  and  though  I  bow 
my  head  as  I  confess  my  unfitness  for  the  one,  in 
vindication  of  the  other  I  hold  my  head  erect." 

She  straightened  herself  at  these  words,  and 
her  stature  helped  to  give  to  this  vindication  both 
dignity  and  strength.  There  was  something  splen- 
did in  the  gesture,  the  emphasis,  and  the  inflection 
with  which  these  words  were  said.  For  the  first 
time  Lydia's  speech  was  here  interrupted  by  ap- 
plause; it  began  far  away  from  her  and  was  soon 
caught  up  by  others,  it  swelled  through  the  build- 

310 


Lydia  to  the  Rescue 

ing,  and  feelings  long  pent  up  in  hushed  atten- 
tion to  her  now  found  relief  in  an  expression  of 
triumphant  approval;  a  few  in  their  excitement 
rose  to  their  feet,  then  more,  till  all,  except  Chairo, 
who  remained  resolutely  seated,  stood  wildly 
gesticulating  their  admiration  for  the  girl  who 
had  the  courage  to  face  them  in  vindication  of 
a  love  upon  which  some  had  wished  to  throw 
disgrace,  but  which  now  she  held  up  to  universal 
honor. 

The  applause  lasted  several  minutes;  if  it  died 
away  in  one  corner  it  was  vociferously  renewed  in 
another,  and  when  at  last,  out  of  very  weariness, 
it  came  to  an  end,  Lydia  resumed : 

"  But  all  I  have  said  is  but  a  preface  to  what 
I  have  still  to  say:  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  myself, 
but  what  shall  I  say  to  you  of  Chairo?  I  have 
told  you  of  a  duty  I  felt  to  him,  but  to  every  duty 
is  there  not  a  corresponding  right?  And  if  Chairo 
had  rights  does  he  not  stand,  too,  for  the  rights  of 
all  his  sex?  " 

Once  more  the  chamber  rang  with  renewed 
applause,  and  Chairo  for  the  first  time  raised  his 
head  and  looked  at  Lydia.  Now  at  last  she  had 
lifted  the  subject  to  a  level  which  eliminated  him. 
He  was  no  longer  the  issue;  she  was  speaking  for 
all  men,   for  the   rights   universal   of  manhood, 

311 


The  Demetrian 

which  the  cult  had,  in  his  case,  ignored  and  must 
at  last  be  vindicated. 

"  I  have  told  you  that  by  implication,  if  not 
by  express  words,  Chairo  had  reason  to  know  I 
loved  him;  was  he  to  stand  by  and  see  the  rights 
I  had  given  him  denied,  rights  for  which  he  has 
stood,  not  for  himself  alone,  but  for  all  men  long 
before  his  own  became  involved?  He  stands 
charged  here  with  sacrilege  and  with  violence. 
Mr.  Speaker,  and  gentlemen  of  the  legislature,  so 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  he  is  guilty  of  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other." 

A  deep  murmur  passed  through  the  chamber 
as  Lydia's  voice  impressively  lowered  on  these 
final  words. 

"  Had  the  woman  he  snatched  from  Demeter's 
sanctuary  been  indeed  fitted  for  it,  then  he  would 
have  been  guilty  of  both.  But  he  knew  I  was  not 
fitted  for  it,  he  knew  that  I  belonged  to  him,  he 
knew  that  once  I  felt  his  presence  in  my  room  I 
would  consent — and  I  consented.^'' 

Chairo,  whose  eyes  had  remained  riveted  on 
Lydia  ever  since  he  raised  them,  now  lowered 
them  again,  and  he  covered  his  face  with  his 
hands.  That  so  sacred  a  thing  to  him  as  Lydia 
and  his  love  for  her  should  be  dragged  into  a 
public  discussion  was  cruel  to  him,  but  that  the 

312 


Lydia  to  the   Rescue 

story  should  be  told  as  Lydia  told  it,  filled  his 
heart  with  a  mixture  of  triumph  and  bitterness 
he  could  not  endure  to  show. 

"  And  so,  Mr.  Speaker,  with  my  confession  of 
consent,  the  charge  against  Chairo  of  sacrilege 
and  violence  falls  to  the  ground.  As  to  those  who 
against  his  bidding  sought  to  rescue  their  leader 
from  his  bonds  I  have  this  to  say:  When  there 
shall  have  disappeared  from  the  hearts  of  men 
the  loyalty,  devotion,  and  sacrifice  that  prompted 
an  act  of  violence  forever  to  be  deplored,  then  let 
this  world  and  all  that  is  in  it  disappear  from  the 
constellations  of  God.  They  erred,  but  they  erred 
in  a  cause  they  believed  to  be  righteous,  and  I 
protest — I  plead  the  state  is  strong  enough  to  grant 
them  pardon. 

"  Every  institution,  human  and  divine,  has  to 
pay  a  price  for  the  blessings  it  bestows — dura  lex 
sed  lex.  Eventually,  perhaps,  wisdom  may  so  in- 
crease among  us  that  the  price  all  pay  shall  grow 
less  and  less;  eventually,  the  mission  maybe  neither 
offered  to  nor  accepted  by  those  unfit  for  it;  per- 
haps, indeed,  the  events  of  last  month  may  con- 
tribute to  this  wisdom,  but  to-day,  O  priests  and 
priestesses  of  Demeter,  join  with  me  in  the  prayer 
to  our  legislators  that  they  do  not,  by  visiting  on 
these  men  too  severely  the  consequences  of  their 

313 


The  Demetrian 

errors,  bring  discredit  upon  a  cult  so  precious  and 
so  noble  as  that  of  the  goddess  you  serve.  Great 
is  Demeter!  But  great  also  is  Eros.  May  wis- 
dom so  guide  your  counsels  that  Eros,  no  longer 
tempted  to  destroy  the  altars  of  Demeter,  may 
strengthen  them  and  build  them  up,  and  so, 
through  continence  and  sacrifice,  remain  for  us 
as  beautiful  as  he  is  strong!" 

Lydia  bowed  her  head  over  these  words  and 
gave  her  hand  to  Irene.  We  all  sat  motionless; 
not  a  sound  was  heard  as  they  slowly  turned  and 
proceeded  to  leave  the  chamber.  Then,  with  one 
accord,  we  rose,  and  in  a  breathless  silence  the 
two  women  passed  out. 

We  resumed  our  seats,  and  for  some  minutes 
no  one  spoke.  At  last  Arkles  moved  that,  in  view 
of  the  remarkable  and  touching  words  they  had 
just  heard,  the  joint  session  adjourn  for  the  day. 
"  For,"  he  added,  "  neither  I,  nor  apparently  any 
of  my  colleagues,  are  able  or  willing  by  any  word 
of  our  own  to  efface  or  modify  the  impression  they 
have  left  upon  us." 

"  You  have  heard  the  motion,"  said  the  speak- 
er. "  In  the  absence  of  a  dissenting  voice  the 
session  will  adjourn  for  the  day."  Not  a  voice  was 
heard;  we  rose  and  left  the  chamber  in  silence. 


314 


CONCLUSION 

My  narrative  has  now  come  to  a  close:  an 
amnesty  bill  was  passed  that  included  every  per- 
son charged,  except  Neaera,  and  deprived  Chairo 
of  his  political  rights  until  the  legislature  should 
by  a  joint  resolution  restore  them;  the  editor  ar- 
rested for  libel  was  found  guilty  and  committed 
to  a  penal  colony. 

Lydia  married  Chairo.  And  Anna  of  Ann 
did  not  visit  on  Ariston  his  indifference  too  heav- 
ily, but  her  nuptials  were  darkened  by  the  ab- 
sence of  Harmes.  Out  of  a  bold  and  crooked 
game  Neaera  had  secured  this  one  small  satisfac- 
tion. 


315 


